By Molly Atchison | Editor-in-Chief
Texas’ incumbent senator, Republican Ted Cruz, enthralled constituents with his passion Friday night at a rally at the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in Waco. Cruz, who has been on the campaign trail for the past several months, came to Waco after cancelling his original rally date due to his required attendance at the Kavanaugh hearing in Washington D.C. Cruz was recognized by the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame and was given a full endorsement by the border patrol union during the rally.
With the room packed full of Make America Great Again hats and Texas Forever shirts, voters waited for Cruz to come to the front with baited breath. First, however, the full house was treated to an opening speech by Paul Perez of the border patrol union. “This is a red state,” Perez said to a cheering crowd.
“There’s only one person meant for this job,” Perez said. He went on to speak about the candidates for the senatorial race, saying Cruz is “not just around for the photo ops,” but that he “advocates for the people out there — he advocates for us.” Perez finished by endorsing Cruz on behalf of the Border Patrol Union and introducing Cruz to the audience.
Applause thundered as Cruz walked to the front, waving his hands and beaming at the crowd. After waiting for the cheering to die down, Cruz started off with a resounding “God Bless Texas,” prompting more cheers. Cruz thanked Perez and every member of law enforcement, veterans and border patrol agents for their service. He then continued with his rally speech.
During the speech, Cruz brought both facts and opinions to the table. He sent a few shots at his opponent, Democratic candidate Robert “Beto” O’Rourke, claiming that “Beto O’Rourke voted ‘No’ on the tax cut — in fact, he’s been real honest. He says he wants to raise your taxes.” Cruz also called Beto out on his views on climate change, healthcare and even the impeachment of President Donald Trump. The audience cheered and booed according to what Cruz said, and at some points, even spoke out to Cruz from the crowd. Cruz would respond with a “God bless you sir” and continue on.
Cruz covered hot topics all over the board, from the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the second amendment, and constantly continued to bring the topics back to his focal point. “Speak out for why freedom matters,” Cruz said. “Use your voice to speak out for freedom.”
Cruz finished his speech with a call to action, calling people to support his cause financially and through voting, claiming that if each person brought nine other people to the polls that wouldn’t normally come, they would essentially bring ten votes to the table.
At the end of the speech Cruz thanked his constituents for coming and finished by saying “We are going to win this race. When we win this race — when we turn conservatives out across the state, not only is that going to win this race, but that’s going to win races up and down. That’s going to win congressional races and judicial races as we turn out common sense conservatives all across the state of Texas. You know why I know we’re going to win? Because we’re Texas.”
Plenty of students were in attendance at the rally, either out of curiosity or of support. Maple Grove, Minn. senior Ryan Spindler, Baylor senior Adam Goad and Tulsa, Okla. senior Jack Huigens were all in attendance.
“We’re supporting a good campaign,” Spindler said.
“I like that he gave specific facts, and not just opinion,” Goad said.
Election day is coming up on Nov. 6. For more information about Senator Ted Cruz, or how to get involved in the GOP election, check out his website.
