AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Senator John Cornyn wrapped up his Get Out the Vote efforts on Tuesday, stopping by the Republican Party of Texas headquarters in downtown Austin to thank supporters and pose for photos with campaign staffers and volunteers.
Cornyn also chatted briefly with Texas Republican Chairman Steve Munistieri, and Munistieri thanked the Senator for his efforts to expand Republican outreach to different communities across the state, such as his multilingual website and campaign ads, and mentioned that the party had received positive feedback about Cornyn’s outreach efforts.
Breitbart Texas got a short interview with Cornyn about his predictions for his own race, the Senate elections across the country, and his goals if the Republicans are in fact able to retake the majority:
Cornyn, like the other Texas Republican statewide candidates, enjoys a double-digit lead over his Democrat opponent in recent polls, and remains confident about the election results, telling Breitbart Texas that he was optimistic that Texans were turning out to vote, “even though the weather’s a little dreary.”
A major priority for Cornyn on Tuesday was monitoring the contested Senate races around the country, hoping that the Republicans would be able to swing the magic number of at least six seats in order to take the majority. Last month, Cornyn shared with Breitbart Texas his frustration at how the Democrat-controlled Senate, under the leadership of Senate President Harry Reid, was a “killing field” for good legislation. Cornyn called Reid the “main roadblock” for a functional Senate and said that he was “confident that he will be retired as majority leader” after Tuesday’s election results, drawing applause from RPT staffers and volunteers who had gathered in the hallway.
The Senator was especially hopeful about the Republican Senate candidates in Georgia and North Carolina, as well as New Hampshire, remarking that Scott Brown, who had been the “Massachusetts Miracle” was now poised to be the “New Hampshire Miracle” as well. “I underestimated [Brown] before,” said Cornyn, “and I told him I’ll never do it again.” Cornyn was also optimistic about Cory Gardner in Colorado, Joni Ernst in Iowa, and Dan Sullivan in Alaska.
Cornyn added that he looked forward to being able to actually pass legislation, “and put it on President Obama’s desk and challenge him to work with us.” When asked what his first priority would be if the Republicans do take the majority, Cornyn said that the Keystone XL pipeline was a top priority and should be “one of the easiest for [a Republican Senate] to deal with,” as well as needing to actually pass a budget, which the Senate had not done since 2009.
Polls are open until 7:00 p.m. Tuesday. Stay tuned to Breitbart Texas for all your Texas election coverage.
Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker