By a wide margin, Texans are still strongly backing Ted Cruz as he heads into this week’s round of primary contests. But three Texas Republican lawmakers are still opposing his candidacy.
We asked our subscribers a simple question:
Nearly 60 percent of those participating picked Cruz over the next closest rival (Trump, 20 percent). Florida’s Marco Rubio came in a distant third statewide.
Since January, a small number of Texas’ House members — like State Reps. Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs), James Frank (R-Wichita Falls) and liberal Jason Villalba (R-Dallas), along with several defeated former lawmakers — have come out strongly against Ted Cruz. They instead sided with Rubio as a safe (pro-amnesty?) establishment choice.
In the case of the three current members, their constituencies went strongly against their presidential pick in the March 1 primary.
In Hays County, where Isaac calls home, Cruz won and nearly doubled Rubio’s (third-place) numbers. Same goes for Wichita County, Frank’s home, where Rubio finished a far-distant third to Cruz’s strong first-place showing. In Dallas County, Cruz again finished in first place, though Rubio managed a second-place showing.
Statewide, Cruz won a strong first-place finish, beating second-place Donald Trump by more than 15 percent and more than doubling Rubio’s showing.
Despite Cruz’s big win in the Lone Star State, and Rubio’s failing campaign, Isaac, Frank and Villalba have yet to back Cruz.
