Meet the 2020 Texas U.S. Senate candidates

Fernanda Figueroa | THE RIDER

This election year, the race for one U.S. Senate seat from Texas is taking place and here is what you need to know about the 2020 candidates, John Cornyn, Mary “MJ” Hegar, Kerry Douglass McKennon and David B. Collins.

Sen. Cornyn (R-Texas) has been in office since 2002 and is looking to win his fourth term as senator.

Cornyn is running his campaign with a focus, per his official campaign website, https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/, on maximizing resources and minimizing regulation, fighting for the health and wellbeing of Texans, fighting crime, protecting our communities and empowering victims, immingration and border security, fostering economic growth, education and keeping our promises to our military.

Democrat Hegar is Cornyn’s prominent opponent. She is a veteran and teacher, most famously known for suing the U.S. Air Force to remove the Combat Exclusion Policy, which excluded women from having combat positions. 

In 2017, Hager ran for the U.S. House of Representatives’ 31st District seat, losing to incumbent John Carter. According to her official campaign website, https://mjfortexas.com, Hager’s campaign is focused on providing quality health care, ensuring women’s reproductive rights, ending child separation, fighting against climate change, passing common-sense gun safety legislation, extending protections to the LGBTQ+ community and fixing Texas’ criminal justice and policing system.

“If you want to know some real differences well, you’d have to look at things like health care, the Affordable Care Act,” said Terence Michael Garrett, a political science professor at UTRGV. “Democrats, in general, support the ACA [Affordable Care Act], whereas the Republican Party, in terms of where they stand, is sort of this dismantling of the Affordable Care Act.”

While not considered major opponents, Libertarian candidate Douglass McKennon and Green Party candidate David B. Collins are also in the running for the Texas U.S. Senate seat.

Historically, third party candidates do not have a huge impact in elections, but because the Senate race is so tight, the third-party candidates will affect the election, especially Hegar.

According to his campaign website, https://www.mckennon2020.com, McKennon is, “campaigning to be a Senator who works hard to protect the freedom that we still have, fight against anyone who seeks to erode our freedom and cooperate with other Senators to regain the freedom that has been lost.”

Some of the issues McKennon is focused on include solving veterans’ affairs, improving immigration reform, ending the opioid crisis and environmental stewardship.

Collins’ platform, per his official campaign website, http://www.dbcgreentx.net, is focused on such issues as advocating for the Ecosocialist Green New Deal, improved Medicare for all, advocating for women’s reproductive rights, canceling student debt, a moratorium on fossil fuel infrastructure, immigration reform, closing overseas military bases and financial reparations for Indigenous and African Americans.

“A third-party candidate in a tight race always impacts the outcome of an election,” said Sylvia Gonzalez-Gorman, an assistant political science professor at UTRGV. “It does affect the newcomer more than it does the incumbent. So, right now, Hegar being single digits off of Cornyn, that third party could be taking votes from her.”

Early voting ends Oct. 30. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is Oct. 23. Election Day is Nov. 3.