AUSTIN, Texas — As Democrats try to gain more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, many have their sights set on the District 21 seat, which went from leaning Republican to a toss-up.
District 21 includes parts of Travis and Hays counties and stretches west to Blanco and Gillespie counties and beyond. In 2018, Republican Chip Roy won the open seat – but former Democratic state senator and former Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis is hoping to make him a one-term representative.
Recently, KVUE spoke to Roy about his reelection campaign. Now, we're hearing from Davis about why she wants to replace him.
Ashley Goudeau: You know, a lot of people have wondered if and when you were going to run for political office again. Tell us what made you decide to run for the U.S. House of Representatives?
Wendy Davis: "My four-year-old and two-year-old granddaughters who live about 10 minutes away from me in Austin. I entered this race because I wanted to make sure I was fighting for the future that they deserve. And when I witness the kind of representation that we were getting from Chip Roy, I knew I had to throw my hat in the ring. So, here I am doing something I never expected I would be doing, running for a seat in the U.S. House."
Goudeau: You said the type of representation we were getting from Rep. Chip Roy. What about his performance over these past two years has stood out to you and really made you decide that you wanted to challenge him?
Davis: "Well, really, time and time again, Chip Roy has demonstrated that he is looking out for special interest groups and not for the people that he serves. And he's also demonstrated very particularly during COVID and in other instances, that his positions are actually dangerous for Texas families. And we cannot trust that he is going to look out for us. For example, he's become one of the leading coronavirus skeptics. He has articulated the belief that we should all infect each other, a herd immunity proposal without a vaccine. And our public health experts here in Austin alone have said that 20,000 Austinites would die, likely die under that kind of an approach."
Goudeau: I want to talk to you a bit about the district. Republican Lamar Smith represented this district from 1987 until 2018. Democrats were hopeful that they could flip that seat back in 2018, and they came pretty close. But Rep. Roy won by about three points. So, what makes you think you'll be able to flip this seat this election?
Davis: "Well, he won by less than three points. And we really feel that now that people understand the kind of representation they're getting from Chip Roy, they're going to feel, as I do, that he needs to go. One of the very first things that I witnessed him do was in a committee hearing while Democratic representatives and Republican representatives were really calling to have pharmaceutical reps for runaway drug prices. He became offended. He started screaming, 'I'm glad you make a lot of money. I hope you make a lot of more money,' and stormed out of the room. That was the deciding factor for me to enter.
And since then and watching him over the course of this two-year period and understanding how time and time again he is voting in ways that are harmful to Texans, it just motivates me all the more to make sure that we cross the finish line successfully and we deliver a voice for people who deserve to have a fighter in their corner, not the corner of special interests.
Chip Roy has been working for the Club for Growth. They've put over $3 million into television ads for him in this race. I'm taking zero money from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists. And meanwhile, of course, their agenda is to keep those tax cuts in place that benefited the very wealthiest. And the way they propose to pay for it is to end Social Security, end Medicare, end Medicaid, privatize all of that. And Chip Roy argues those points hook, line and sinker. He is 100% a mouthpiece for that special interest group and clearly is fighting in a way that is against the interests of this state and people all over this country, including the fact that he strongly believes and agrees with the case before the Supreme Court to remove the Affordable Care Act, to deal it its final death blow. And, of course, then millions of people would lose coverage as a consequence of that. Once again demonstrating he's not looking out for Texas families, and we can't trust him to look out for us."
RELATED:
Goudeau: You mentioned that PAC, let's talk a little bit more about them. I know that you're probably aware they're running commercials right now about you, pointing out an ethics violation, saying that you essentially profited from your time as a Texas senator. How do you respond to this?
Davis: "These are absolutely bogus and absurd claims. They're six-year-old claims that were tried during my gubernatorial race, and they were debunked at the time. And honestly, they have nowhere else to go when it comes to the service I have always provided for people that I've had the privilege to serve. They know that, time and time again, I have stood for school funding. I have stood for our teachers. I've stood against predatory practices and payday lending in electricity, in insurance; that I am a fighter for people and they are scared to death of that because they know I will be an absolute obstacle to their goal to remove Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid for the many millions of people around this country that rely on those. And quite frankly, Medicare and Social Security – of course being benefits that we earned through hard work and that we deserve to have in our retirement – they want to see that go away because they want to see the bottom line of the billionaires and very wealthy corporations in this country continue to grow while people all over this state and all over this country right now are suffering the most economically dire situation they've ever faced."
RELATED:
Goudeau: If you are elected to Congress, tell us what will be your top priority for 2021.
Davis: "The very most important thing that we can do is to deliver the promise of health care to people across Texas. We have the highest percentage of uninsured people, highest percentage of uninsured women and highest percentage of uninsured children. And that is just not acceptable. And we've seen a particularly high death rate in our state from coronavirus for people who haven't had the medical care and the preexisting conditions that made them more vulnerable to this disease. That has got to be our most important priority as we face this pandemic. Every person should have access to care. Every person should have access to testing.
And we need to make sure that we return the health and safety of our communities so that we can get our economy working for all of us again, that we can get our schools safely reopened and we can keep this virus contained. That's going to take all of our efforts and attention as we start the next congressional session. And I hope to be there to fight for people who deserve to have a voice."
RELATED:
Goudeau: Share with our viewers some final thoughts about why you think they should elect you this November.
Davis: "Absolutely. You know, I came from a life of struggle and I was a person privileged to move up and out of poverty as a single mom because I was able to get a higher education. And I was lucky that lawmakers before me believed in investing in people like me. That's not the case today. And I want to make sure that every child that grows up in this beautiful state I call home has the same opportunities to realize their full potential that I have. I have always been in public service because I believe that people need a voice.
And I am proud of my 15 years in elected office at the local and State level, fighting time and time again exactly for the people who elected me to represent them, not for special interests and certainly not for those who are privileged to be at the very, very top, the very wealthy as the largest corporations and the pharmaceutical companies in this country."
Early voting is already underway and ends Friday, Oct. 30. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
MORE ELECTION COVERAGE: