BARTONVILLE — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, made one of the final stops in his #CruztoVictory tour at Marty B’s in Bartonville on Sunday afternoon.
Staff at Marty B’s estimated 1,000 to 1,500 people were in attendance and said 1,500 people RSVP’d, lower than recent attendance Denton rally for U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, Cruz’s challenger in Tuesday’s election.
Following a stop in Bartonville, Cruz’s campaign had five additional stops across Sunday and Monday before a final Election Day watch party in Houston.
State Sen. Jane Nelson and U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess worked up the crowd with chants and brief speeches. Several other local politicians stood alongside voters to watch the event unfold. Cruz took the stage to uproarious applause.
Seas of “Make America Great Again” hats mingled with cowboy hats and business casual in a way that only Sunday afternoon Texans are able to pull off.
Rippling applause in favor of Second Amendment issues, economic growth and low unemployment, among other topics, were paralleled by cascading waves of boos whenever Rep. O’Rourke, former President Barack Obama or a stance taken by either of the Democrats was mentioned.
Cruz, an accomplished debater and lawyer before stepping into politics outright, structured his speech simply around three points, the three things he claimed Tuesday’s midterm election was all about: jobs, freedom and security.
Jobs mean low unemployment
Cruz came out swinging for low taxes. He boasted about the recent tax overhaul and suggested a flat tax, along with the abolishment of the IRS.
He also spoke widely about the “booming” Texas economy, citing lower regulations, increased oil production and low unemployment rates as indicators.
He claimed oil production is up 33 percent since 2016, which is true according to information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, but it is worth noting that 2016 saw markedly lower oil production compared to 2015 and 2017.
Before moving to unemployment, Cruz brought up a point he made during a debate with O’Rourke in October, claiming O’Rourke voted for a $10 tax for every barrel of oil produced in Texas.
O’Rourke immediately denied the claim, resurrecting a nickname given to Cruz by President Donald Trump, “Lyin’ Ted.” Numerous outlets since have fact-checked the claim, with Politifact returning a verdict of “mostly false” against Cruz.
He went on to claim unemployment rates for black, Hispanic and Asian-Americans are the lowest ever recorded nationally. This is confirmed by information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but unemployment rates for racial minorities have not been collected for nearly as long as for white citizens. The first data for blacks was collected in 1972, Hispanics in 1973 and Asian-Americans in 2003.
Freedom isn’t free
Cruz wasted little time dabbling in ideology before jumping into free speech, the Second Amendment and religious freedom.
“Free speech protects you whether you’re right or wrong,” Cruz said. “Free speech protects the right of us to speak up for what we believe is right, and it also protects the right of someone else to jump on a skateboard and slide away.”
The latter part of that remark — likely a reference O’Rourke skateboarding through a Whataburger parking lot in August — gained a surge of cheers, laughter and applause.
Cruz shifted toward religious liberty, describing the U.S. founders as those in search of a, “new land where every one of us could seek out and worship the Lord God Almighty with all of our hearts, minds, souls.”
Security means ‘build the wall’ and respect for military
Transitioning from a Second Amendment view of domestic protection into statewide or national protection, Cruz equated security with respect for police and military personnel, as well as the presence of a wall along the Texas-Mexico border.
A chant of “build the wall” briefly tore across the audience.
Cruz set up military strength as essential to the American way of life: “Without the fighting men and women of our military, the Bill of Rights is nothing but words on a page.”
He leveled blame for international distrust in America toward the eight years of the Obama administration and what Cruz perceived as military weakness.
“We went eight years with our friends and allies not able to trust us, and our enemies not fearing us,” he said.
Cruz then claimed “ISIS has been utterly destroyed,” a claim that seems misleading amid recent news reports of Islamic State activity.
Voters left to sway
Before Cruz took to the stage, Nelson acknowledged the inevitable reality of campaigning that close to election day: Most of the rally attendees probably already have voted during early voting periods.
Despite that, not every person chanting “we want Ted,” had cast a ballot. Joe Kleckner, of Flower Mound, meant to vote on Friday but forgot.
He was adamant he’d wait in line on Tuesday, “as long as it takes.”
Kleckner had never heard Cruz speak live before, but he said he was a big supporter of the senator’s message.
An owner of several franchises across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Kleckner takes the Republican ideal of small government to heart. He said government regulation, especially by the federal government, harms small businesses like his every day.
If you, like Kleckner, have yet to vote, information for Denton County can be found on vote denton.com.
Wake Up with the DR-C: Get today's headlines in your inbox
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
