May 16, 2020      11:00 AM

With campaigns constrained for now by a pandemic, the sleeper of a Democratic Texas US Senate runoff may lead to a red hot race this fall

National Democrats hope MJ Hegar can motivate voters in races up and down the ballot, Sen. West’s camp argues for responsible governance: “It’s easy to go into a china shop and break the plates, but what about the plan to put the store back together?”

For a seat eyed by national Democrats as key to flipping the US Senate and the White House from Republicans, the Democratic runoff between Sen. Royce West of Dallas and MJ Hegar of Round Rock to take on Sen. John Cornyn is kind of a snooze fest for now. And the fact it is unfolding during a global pandemic isn’t helping.

“It’s not just a boring runoff because of COVID-19. It was a boring primary,” said Elizabeth Doyel, an Austin-based Democratic strategist and founder of the firm Superior Blue.

Campaigns often have a tough time getting the attention of voters during runoffs even when the targets of their attempts at persuasion are not being forced to stay home or avoid their favorite restaurants while listening to politicians argue about whether face masks should be mandatory in public places.

“Turnout in runoffs is always a hurdle, especially in a state like Texas that already has low voter turnout,” said Vince Leibowitz, the West campaign’s communications director.

Whoever wins the race, however, will be closely watched nationwide this fall as national Democrats have put the incumbent Republican in their political crosshairs. Meantime, Sen. Cornyn has about $13 million in the bank and the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity Action PAC has pledged to spend at least seven figures defending the incumbent.

By James Russell

Copyright May 16, 2020, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved