Long-shot Texas Senate contender calls McConnell a ‘turtle’ in anti-Cornyn ad

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A long-shot primary challenger to Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) called Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) a “Beltway turtle” after accusing Cornyn of “enslaving” the children of Texas.

Bridge construction contractor Dwayne Stovall opens the ad, which appears to be web-only, with harsh criticism of Cornyn before moving on to the minority leader.

“As a U.S. senator from Texas, you vote for Texas,” says Stovall. “You don’t stab her in the back by voting for cloture on ObamaCare. You don’t enslave its children with unconstitutional laws and overwhelming debt. And you certainly don’t do all this to please some guy that looks and fights like a turtle.” 

{mosads}The ad shows a picture of McConnell alongside that of a cartoon turtle.

“We Texans don’t need a Beltway turtle telling us how to fight,” Stovall continues.

Despite Stovall’s claim, Cornyn did not vote on cloture to end debate over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare, which was passed over unanimous Republican opposition in 2010.

Conservative activists have lambasted both Cornyn and McConnell for being insufficiently supportive of an effort led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to defund the law after its passage, however. The effort failed and led to a two-week government shutdown.

More recently, the two have been criticized for voting with Democrats on a “clean” increase to the debt ceiling without additional provisions.

Stovall is one of seven challengers to Cornyn in the Republican primary, with Rep. Steve Stockman being another notable entrant. He faces a steep climb in his effort to win, as the only poll conducted thus far has shown Cornyn with a commanding lead on his opponents.