AUSTIN, Texas — With less than two weeks until Election Day, Republican Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas-10) and Democrat challenger Mike Siegel are focusing their efforts on the undecided voter.
In 2018, Siegel lost to McCaul by 4.3 points. McCaul, who has held the seat since 2005, attributed the close race to straight-ticket voting, which is not an option in the 2020 election. Because of the tight race two years ago, Siegel believes this second change could unseat McCaul.
"The intensity, it's like one of these curves that just ramps all the way up until Election Day," Siegel said. "Everyone's paying attention right now, whereas, you know, a few months ago, you had to be more sophisticated maybe to be really involved."
"We're in the defining role, so people know who my opponent is, quite frankly, at this point in time," McCaul said. "With about 11 days out, I think most people have already made up their minds. We're really trying to go after that swing vote of undecided voters who are still out there."
District 10 stretches from Austin to just outside Houston, sandwiching a rural population between two urban ones. Because of the population density varying in each county, the candidates must tailor their answers.
"They know I'm effective in the Congress and they know that I'll be working on things like the Paycheck Protection Program," McCaul said.
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"In the rural areas on health care, it's like, how can we reopen that rural hospital that closed a couple of years back?" Siegel said. "In Houston, they want to still talk about flood control infrastructure, you know, going back to school safely. Austin, you have a whole gamut of issues. You know, I want to talk about a Green New Deal or housing and all sorts of issues."
Of course, this year's election is a bit different than 2018 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The coronavirus propelled healthcare to the No. 1 issue for many voters and, according to McCaul and Siegel, rightfully so. Another relief package because of COVID-19 has been held up in Congress.
"We're doing the American people a great disservice by not passing a covert relief package right now," McCaul said. "I would go up there tonight if we had something to vote on that I knew was going to pass. It has to be bipartisan. That's over where you can be effective, and the Speaker knows this. I think it's being held up for political reasons."
"It's just a continuation of the bad faith of Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, refusing to take action on these essential bills that would keep Americans safe, you know, make sure we have extended unemployment, make sure we have protective equipment, testing and tracing, making sure we have all the things we need to get out of this crisis and invest in American people," Siegel said.
Because of District 10's inclusion of Travis and Harris counties, voters have also been directly affected by the legal battle over where people can hand in their ballots-by-mail if they don't want to send them through a postal carrier.
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"Texas is the national leader in voter suppression," Siegel said. "This is like the lab where we pioneer everything from gerrymandering and voter ID laws to closing polling locations, closing drop boxes. To me, this puts the record turnout in even more wonderful context that we are overcoming voter suppression to have record turnout."
"We've seen previous elections where ballots have been fabricated," McCaul said. "We've got to be careful about that. I think, you know, the governor got the right approach here."
Texas counties have already reported a huge percentage of voters having already cast their ballots. Undecided voters have until Nov. 3 to elect a District 10 representative.
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