A candidate endorsed by U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw appears to be distancing himself from the congressman.
Six of the 11 Republicans campaigning for the open seat in Congressional District 8 met for a candidate forum in Cypress on Wednesday evening.
CD 8 contains a portion of Montgomery County, while U.S. Rep. Crenshaw’s Congressional District 2 covers the remaining section of Montgomery County. Crenshaw endorsed Morgan Luttrell in the race and has campaigned with Luttrell.
However, when the forum host asked the candidates to name a “House member that voted for legislation that provided for a federal vaccine database,” Luttrell named Crenshaw.
Luttrell then said he would not support any legislation that would enable a federal vaccine database. The legislation the host referred to is the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021, which allocated $400 million for states to update their immunization information systems. Some have criticized the wording of the bill, suggesting it could allow for a federal database, although Crenshaw fired back and argued that it actually protects the existing information in the state databases.
Montgomery County, one of the largest GOP strongholds in Texas, already had a dispute with Crenshaw earlier this year over his treatment of a young lady who questioned his comparison of Jesus Christ to fictional characters on a podcast appearance.
Despite Crenshaw having endorsed Luttrell in November, there is no mention of Crenshaw’s endorsement on Luttrell’s campaign website or Facebook page.
Luttrell recently shared that the two spent time together at a Crenshaw event, but no mention is made of Crenshaw’s endorsement, leaving voters to wonder if Luttrell is attempting to distance himself from Crenshaw because he disagrees with him or because the voters do.
The Republican primary is March 1, with early voting beginning February 14.
