“Wendy Davis is a true fighter who never gives up, even when she’s been knocked down. After raising her family as a teen mom, Wendy knows firsthand the difficult choices that families across Texas face to put and keep food on the table. Elected to the Texas State Senate, Wendy was a leading voice calling for access to health care, better care for our veterans and the importance of public education. While Congressman Roy’s time in Washington has been defined by voting for higher taxes on Gold Star families and defending drug company profits while voting to keep prescription costs high, Wendy Davis will be a new voice for this quickly changing congressional district who can bring people together and get results for Texans in her community.” – DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos
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To: Interested Parties
From: Avery Jaffe, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: March 3, 2020
Subject: The Case Against Congressman Chip Roy
After barely scraping by in a congressional district previously assumed to be safely Republican, most of freshman Congressman Chip Roy’s constituents don’t know him – but what little Texans do know of him, they don’t like.
A longtime D.C. insider, Roy swam with the swampy special interests in his first term in Congress and earned a litany of embarrassing headlines detailing his shilling for corporate drugmakers and temper tantrums.
(And as Ted Cruz’s apprentice, Roy has demonstrated all of the “brilliant” political strategery of his political mentor and precisely none of Cruz’s fundraising prowess.)
After getting shellacked in the money race by former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis in her first quarter as a candidate, Congressman Roy decided it was high time to end his flirtation with retirement and kick off his campaign by trashing the Republican Party for their lack of on-the-ground investment in Texas.
It was a fitting start to a campaign that will dredge up plenty of Roy’s head-scratching political moves from his first year in office, from singlehandedly blocking a bipartisan disaster relief bill to voting for higher taxes on families of fallen veterans to voting against a ban on insider trading, and having an on-camera meltdown over his concern for drug manufacturers’ profits.
Indeed, local political observers are already forecasting that “Chip Roy could have another close race.” Facing quarter after quarter of getting outraised and outworked by his Democratic opponent, Congressman Roy better believe it.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
HEADLINE: “Freshman San Antonio Congressman Chip Roy Has a Meltdown Defending Drug Company Profits” [San Antonio Current, 5/17/19]
HEADLINE: U.S. Rep. Chip Roy single-handedly delays $19.1 billion disaster aid package [Texas Tribune, 5/24/19]
HEADLINE: New Democratic ad targets Chip Roy for opposing tax break for Gold Star families [Austin American-Statesman, 6/14/19]
HEADLINE: “‘Worthless’: Bleary-eyed lawmakers steamed as Texan Chip Roy keeps House in session till 4 a.m. [Dallas Morning News, 6/13/19]
HEADLINE: Wendy Davis crushes Chip Roy in 4th quarter fundraising [Austin American-Statesman, 2/1/19]
“Davis raised $910,000 in the fourth quarter, more than double Roy’s haul, marking the second quarter in a row that she has taken in more than him. She also pulled virtually even in cash on hand, with both reporting $1.2 million in reserves.” [Texas Tribune, February 2/3/20]
Chip Roy: The Worst in Washington
A WASHINGTON INSIDER SHILLING FOR BIG DRUG MANUFACTURERS AND SPECIAL INTERESTS
Born in Bethesda, raised in Virginia and an avid Virginia Cavaliers fan who doesn’t live in TX-21 and can’t even vote for himself, it’s no surprise that Congressman Roy has more in common with his special interest backers in Washington D.C. than the Texans he’s supposed to represent.
How else can he explain his head-scratching votes in favor of keeping drug costs high, his description of Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme” and his emotional outbursts in defense of drug company profits?
KEEPING HEALTH CARE COSTS HIGH
Roy has repeatedly voted to support the Texas lawsuit to repeal the entirety of the Affordable Care Act, which threatens to throw 340,700 TX-21 residents with pre-existing conditions off their insurance.
Months before Congressman Roy voted against bipartisan legislation to lower drug costs, he threw a tantrum in defense of drug company profits, saying he was “glad” drug companies “made a lot of money,” and hoped “they make a lot more.” Luckily for Congressman Roy, it’s all on camera.
Roy was in “strong support” of a “full, 100% repeal” of the ACA without any plans to replace it. Roy is so recklessly out of the mainstream that he even opposed Washington Republicans’ efforts to partially repeal the Affordable Care Act – supporting only a disastrous full repeal. And of course, Roy was an architect of Ted Cruz’s unsuccessful 2013 government shutdown to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
CHIP ROY: TED CRUZ’S APPRENTICE WHO GETS NO RESULTS
Congressman Roy’s Texas-sized tantrums and do-nothing approach to his job are exactly what Texans hate about Washington. He learned it from his political mentor: Ted Cruz.
The Texas Tribune says “Chip Roy helped Ted Cruz agitate in the U.S. Senate. Now he has brought those tactics to the House.” And according to Cruz himself, Congressman Roy “played a vital role in the battles we’ve waged.” In the House, Roy has charted a new course for how many negative headlines a single Member of Congress can earn while failing to deliver results for his constituents.
From desperately-needed disaster relief for Texans to a commonsense tax fix for Gold Star families, Roy has never found a way to get to “yes” on some of the most basic responsibilities a Member of Congress has in serving their constituents.
PATH TO VICTORY
Texas’s 21st congressional district runs from Austin to San Antonio and stretches west into the Hill Country. 45.4% of residents hold a college degree, reflecting the kind of highly educated suburban district that is shifting rapidly toward Democrats. The district has a sizable and growing Hispanic/Latino population (23.8%), with African American and Asian American Pacific Islander communities growing at higher rates than the district overall. All are key communities where a Democratic candidate will need to maximize their support in a Presidential year.
The 2018 results are a continuation of trends in this district over a number of cycles. Obama won just 38.8% of the major party vote in 2012, while Clinton earned 44.8% in 2016, and O’Rourke narrowly lost the district with 49.9% in 2018. The 2018 Democratic congressional candidate earned 48.7% of the major party vote in 2018, nearly 10 points better than the Democratic candidate in 2016. In a Presidential year, with President Trump below water, this trend is on track to continue. A strong, well financed Democrat like Wendy Davis is in a commanding position to do us all a favor and show Congressman Roy the exit.
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