Texas Walks Back Its Noncitizen-Voters Claim, And John Cornyn Starts 2020 Bid With $6 Million

“There might be lag time between when these lists were created … folks might have, in fact, become naturalized.”

By Rhonda FanningFebruary 1, 2019 1:47 pm,

It’s time for the week that was in Texas politics with Rebecca Deen, chair and associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Texas at Arlington.

This week, the Texas secretary of state’s office walked back an earlier claim that 95,000 registered Texas voters may be noncitizens. Upon further review of data provided by the Department of Public Safety, it found that about 60 percent of those mentioned on the list of 95,000 did in fact provide citizenship documentation. In some counties, the discrepancy was even higher, with Waco reporting 100 percent of its list as inaccurate.

Deen says considering the time when the data was collected may reveal further inaccuracies in the list.

“There might be lag time between when these lists were created,” Deen says. “Folks might have, in fact, become naturalized.”

Also, Sen. John Cornyn, who is up for reelection in 2020, kicked off his fundraising efforts this week. He’ll begin the campaign season with $6 million in the bank. Deen says this will ensure that Cornyn likely won’t face opposition in the Republican primary, and will make it difficult for a Democrat to challenge him.

If Cornyn does face any Democratic challenger, Deen says it would likely be Beto O’Rourke.

Two members of the U.S. House members from Texas, Democrat Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Republican Kay Granger of Fort Worth, have been appointed to a 17-member committee tasked with working through the border-wall funding issue.

Deen says she’s not optimistic about their chances of coming to an agreement.

“It’s hard to see how they get there from here,” Deen says. “Because, in addition to coming to some sort of agreement, they got to get it past their party leadership, and the president has to sign on.”

Written by Sol Chase.