Evan L’Roy / The Texas Tribune (left) | Wikimedia Commons / Ike Hayman (proper)
From left: State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, and U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, are working to be the Democratic nominee to face U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz within the 2024 election.
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas and state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio each suppose they’ve the platform wanted to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the conservative powerhouse who’s in search of reelection subsequent 12 months.
Every brings a unique profile to the race. Allred is a former NFL participant and civil rights legal professional from North Texas who was first elected to Congress in 2018. Gutierrez is an immigration lawyer from South Texas who has served within the Texas Legislature since 2008, first within the Home after which within the Senate.
Allred overtly touts his bipartisan credentials in a intently divided U.S. Home. Gutierrez, in the meantime, has turn into an outspoken Democrat in a Texas Senate the place Republicans dominate.
Their variations prolong to the problems, in accordance with latest interviews with the 2 candidates. Whereas they often agree on many Democratic priorities, they diverge on the easiest way to deal with a few of them, together with gun management, immigration and well being care.
To be clear, the first may nonetheless develop. State Rep. Carl Sherman, D-DeSoto, has been contemplating a run and is predicted to announce his determination quickly.
Allred and Gutierrez spoke to The Texas Tribune to put out their coverage positions forward of the Democratic main in March.
Weapons and gun securityStopping gun violence is considered one of Gutierrez’s prime causes for working. He represents the district the place the Uvalde college capturing passed off final 12 months and has spent the 12 months energetically pushing for gun restrictions on the Texas Capitol.
“The Safer Communities Act was begin, however not practically sufficient,” Gutierrez mentioned of the post-Uvalde federal regulation that elevated background checks for gun consumers underneath age 21 and created new funding for state gun-safety packages.
Gutierrez mentioned he needs to see common background checks, purple flag legal guidelines that enable judges to briefly seize firearms from people who find themselves deemed harmful and a rise within the minimal age to purchase an AR-15 from 18 to 21. As for stopping the long run sale of such firearms, he mentioned he’s open to a ban with exceptions for regulation enforcement, army veterans and farmers who can show they want such a weapon for one thing like killing feral hogs, a typical drawback in rural Texas.
Gutierrez mentioned he was not able to assist a compulsory buyback of semi-automatic weapons, the concept that Beto O’Rourke controversially pushed in his 2020 presidential marketing campaign. Gutierrez mentioned he supported a voluntary buyback however questioned whether or not a compulsory program would work.
“It turns into one thing that turns into unimaginable to implement,” Gutierrez mentioned.
Allred credited U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, for his work advancing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act final 12 months, and Allred mentioned any continued work in gun security must be measured and in keeping with what can realistically go a intently divided Senate.
Like Gutierrez, Allred backs common background checks, purple flag legal guidelines and elevating the minimal age to purchase semi-automatic weapons to 21. He additionally helps banning the long run sale of such weapons.
“These are all issues that I feel have broad, broad assist and that I feel we will get executed proper now,” Allred mentioned. “I’ve at all times been centered on what can we do proper now.”
Immigration and border safety
Allred’s method to the border is in keeping with moderates of his get together. He advocated for pairing border safety measures championed by Republicans, together with mandated E-Confirm to substantiate the citizenship standing of potential staff, with pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already within the nation. He backed efforts by the Biden administration to direct asylum-seekers to request asylum on-line from their dwelling nations in addition to creating visa packages to satisfy U.S. financial and labor wants.
Allred has beforehand voted on laws to develop funding for the U.S. Border Patrol and for bodily limitations to direct migrants to ports of entry. However he dismissed a border wall stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, as former President Donald Trump advocated, as “ridiculous” and a waste of cash.
Gutierrez was additionally important of a border wall, calling it a waste of time, cash and sources.
Extra broadly, he mentioned the USA must reimagine immigration coverage by overhauling visa packages and dealing with Latin American nations to assist individuals higher perceive job alternatives within the U.S. earlier than they journey to the border.
Gutierrez mentioned he helps a pathway to residency for the hundreds of thousands of people that have lengthy been within the nation illegally, with a mandated time interval and monetary penalty. He distinguished that from a pathway to citizenship, which individuals may apply for 5 years after they turn into lawful everlasting residents.
He mentioned he favored a pathway to residency and an earlier pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers,” or younger individuals who had been delivered to the nation illegally as kids.
In the case of border safety, Gutierrez advocated for a more durable method to cartels, which he mentioned revenue from unlawful immigration. He mentioned the USA ought to have frank conversations with Mexico concerning the cartel drawback, kind an accord and “ship within the DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] … ship within the particular forces like we did in Colombia.”
“You’ll by no means hear a Democrat discuss this that approach, however we’ve to have options which are outdoors the field,” Gutierrez mentioned.
The Senate filibuster
Allred mentioned he would assist abolishing the filibuster — which typically requires the assist of 60 senators earlier than motion will be taken — however acknowledged the political problem of doing so as a result of a handful of Democrats and most Republicans insist that the filibuster encourages bipartisanship.
Senate guidelines at the moment have exceptions to the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold for sure finances payments and judicial confirmations. Allred mentioned it might be extra politically possible to create the same exception for voting rights laws. Allred labored as a civil rights legal professional earlier than becoming a member of Congress in 2019 and championed voting rights laws after the tumultuous 2020 presidential election.
“I understood that there have been some members who had considerations about getting rid of the filibuster totally, however the voting rights laws is about the way you even make up the physique of the Senate,” Allred mentioned. “A supermajority requirement within the Senate is nowhere within the Structure.”
Gutierrez mentioned he was open to altering the filibuster, no less than for laws associated to sure points corresponding to abortion rights, voting rights and gun management. He urged these are “points that the nation is vastly in favor of,” and he mentioned Democratic leaders like Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer have to “develop some actual fortitude on this area.”
The U.S. Supreme Courtroom
Allred helps “frequent sense” ethics reform for the excessive court docket, calling the self-regulated court docket the “least accountable physique in our authorities.” He cited latest Democratic laws that might require the Supreme Courtroom to undertake a code of conduct, enable public complaints on court docket ethics and tighten disclosure guidelines for justices’ journey and items.
Gutierrez additionally was important of the court docket, saying latest revelations of potential outdoors affect had been “appalling.” He mentioned the court docket wants a beefed-up ethics code and extra congressional oversight.
Allred stopped wanting supporting proposals to develop the scale of the Supreme Courtroom so as to add extra liberal justices. Conservatives on the court docket occupy six of the 9 seats, and a number of other leftist advocates and lawmakers argue that the Structure doesn’t dictate what number of justices can sit on the court docket. Republicans and most average Democrats have dismissed the concept as a political lengthy shot.
Gutierrez mentioned he was open to increasing the court docket.
“It’s been a really, very very long time that it’s been 9,” he mentioned, “and it in all probability needs to be elevated to have the ability to present somewhat bit extra range inside the USA of America, definitely.”
Time period limits for Congress
Cruz joined a bipartisan coalition within the Home and Senate pushing for congressional time period limits, with a most of three two-year phrases within the Home and two six-year phrases within the Senate after changing into regulation.
Gutierrez expressed assist for time period limits for members of Congress.
“I don’t know if it’s two or three [terms], however sooner or later, you want contemporary concepts,” he mentioned.
Gutierrez already poked at Cruz over the problem in January, when Gutierrez filed a invoice to require U.S. senators from Texas to serve not more than two phrases.
Allred stopped wanting backing time period limits however mentioned he understands the rationale behind the concept. He mentioned laws to combat partisan gerrymandering, tighten marketing campaign finance legal guidelines and develop poll entry would extra instantly handle frustrations with Congress.
“In case you’re in a position to handle voting rights and marketing campaign finance, which I feel are the 2 actual root causes of most of our issues, then I don’t suppose it’s important to have a look at one thing like time period limits,” Allred mentioned.
Abortion and gender fairness
Allred, a vocal critic of the Supreme Courtroom’s determination reversing Roe v. Wade, co-sponsored a invoice final 12 months to codify a nationwide proper to abortion. He additionally voted to safe the correct to journey out of state for an abortion.
Gutierrez mentioned he would have voted for each payments had he been within the U.S. Home.
“We’ve to guard ladies’s reproductive rights and their personal choices between their docs and themselves,” Gutierrez mentioned. “No man ought to go on the market, inform a girl what to do along with her physique. … It’s simply so simple as that.”
Allred has additionally been important of Texas’ abortion legal guidelines, saying they infringe on ladies’s rights and hurt the economic system by discouraging job and school candidates from coming to the state.
Well being care priorities
Gutierrez predicted well being care shall be a significant level of debate within the main. He helps a single-payer well being care system like “Medicare for All,” calling well being care a “common proper.”
“We are able to afford to do that in a proper approach the place firms, the place employers nonetheless pay right into a system that isn’t gouging,” Gutierrez mentioned. “We’ve to have a really actual dialogue on this, on how we pay for it, and a part of that’s we’ve to take out a few of that great quantity of … revenue.”
Allred doesn’t assist a single-payer insurance coverage plan however helps different initiatives in his get together to develop entry to well being care, together with the creation of a public choice to purchase Medicare if there are not any different inexpensive alternate options. He launched a decision in 2019 to intervene within the Texas lawsuit that sought to overturn the Inexpensive Care Act and lobbied to develop ACA subsidies by means of 2025 for these impacted if Texas had been to go Medicaid enlargement. Texas stays considered one of 10 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid underneath the ACA.
Gutierrez mentioned he needs to remove the power of “rogue governors like Greg Abbott” to say no Medicaid enlargement. Requested for particulars, he mentioned there are “myriad methods” for the federal authorities to make states like Texas comply.
As a senator, Allred mentioned he would additionally give attention to bringing down prescription drug prices and creating incentives to develop the variety of docs and nurses.
Local weather change and vitality
Texas Democrats typically need to stability the pursuits of the oil and fuel {industry} with considerations over local weather change, and Allred has pushed his colleagues to not take too punitive an method on fossil fuels as a strategy to decrease carbon emissions. As a substitute, he favors monetary incentives to develop renewable vitality. He additionally helps allowing reform to streamline environmental evaluations for clear vitality and fossil gasoline tasks, saying each are important.
“We’ve to acknowledge that we’re going to proceed to be an vitality state, however that vitality combine is already extremely various,” Allred mentioned. “But in addition, I’m very involved concerning the local weather, and about what’s taking place, and I feel we’ve to be higher stewards of the planet.”
Allred proposed extra federal funding in expertise to seize carbon earlier than it’s launched into the ambiance — a proposal standard each inside the fossil gasoline {industry} and with industry-minded local weather activists.
Gutierrez has the same view. He mentioned he needs Texas to turn into a frontrunner in renewable vitality, however he additionally needs to make sure oil discipline staff are usually not left behind. They need to be transitioned to jobs in renewable vitality that pay no less than as a lot, he mentioned.
“I’m not a kind of guys who says we’re going to throw out the infant with the bathwater in Texas,” Gutierrez mentioned.
Gutierrez mentioned he helps utilizing tax credit to encourage oil corporations to spend money on renewable sources. He additionally mentioned he has supported a carbon tax, or a tax on fossil-fuel emissions.
Correction, Aug. 9, 2023 at 8:29 a.m.: A earlier model of this text mistakenly mentioned a time period limits proposal supported by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz would preserve him from in search of reelection. The proposal, if it turns into regulation, isn’t retroactive and would apply to future phrases.
This text initially appeared within the Texas Tribune.The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and interesting Texans on state politics and coverage. Be taught extra at texastribune.org.
Subscribe to SA Present newsletters.
Comply with us: Apple Information | Google Information | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Fb | Twitter| Or join our RSS Feed
