Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate on Monday.
The campaign announcement was made with a video posted to his Twitter account on Monday morning. In the video, Gutierrez criticized U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for his actions while in office.
“I’m running against Ted Cruz because everything that we’ve seen in this state has been nothing but taking care of rich people, while the poor people, the working class, get screwed over,” declared Gutierrez.
“We’ve seen bribery and corruption that is appalling, political stunts that are tragic, and when our Senator goes to Cancun while Texans are fighting for their lives in a winter storm, that’s just indefensible.”
Gutierrez served on the San Antonio City Council for three years before he was elected to the Texas State House of Representatives in 2008. He worked in the House for over a decade and was elected to the State Senate representing District 19 in 2020, per Axios.
District 19 includes Uvalde, the location of a school shooting that left 21 people dead.
“I’m a proud gun owner and believer in the Second Amendment. But after 19 students and two teachers died, the Republicans wouldn’t even allow us an opportunity to talk about ways to protect our kids,” stated Gutierrez in his Twitter announcement. “It’s why we have to do something now.”
Gutierrez, an immigration attorney, spoke with WFAA about how he would approach border security if elected.
“Listen, I voted against these border security bills because they’re nonsense. They’re [a] political stunt by [Texas Governor] Greg Abbott and others to waste our taxpayer dollars, to house some migrants from time to time.
“… [W]e deport thousands of people every day. They don’t talk about that. Most people get deported. That’s the reality. Not their talking point. That’s reality,” Gutierrez said.
“As far as security’s concerned, half of the AR-15s that are sold in the United States end up in the hands of [the drug] cartels in Mexico,” he continued.
“We do need to be aggressive. We need to do what we did in Colombia. Get the DEA involved. Infiltrate Mexican cartels because they’re hurting our economies, our people, and folks [on] our southern border.
“… The state’s stunts, [Governor] Greg Abbott’s stunts, are simply that,” Gutierrez told WFAA.
Gutierrez will face U.S. Congressman Colin Allred of Dallas in the Democratic primary on March 5, 2024. Allred announced his run for the Senate seat in May and has already raised over $6 million in two months, per The Dallas Express.
The winner of the Democratic primary will challenge incumbent Republican Ted Cruz in the November 2024 election.
Gutierrez said his work ethic will set him apart from Allred and Cruz.
“The fact is, I’ve done a heck of a lot more than [Allred] has in public service,” Gutierrez told WFAA. “I’ll outwork Colin Allred and I’ll work harder than Ted Cruz. I’m sure Colin’s a nice guy, but I’m gonna outwork him because that’s the way I was raised.”
Sen. Cruz and his team responded to the news that Gutierrez plans to run for his seat, saying that he and Allred lean too far left for Texans.
“We welcome Senator Gutierrez to the race. Texans will now get to watch Colin Allred and Roland Gutierrez slug it out for who can be the most radical leftist in the state.
“Meanwhile, Sen. Cruz will continue passionately defending Texas and delivering real results for 30 million Texans,” said Cruz campaign spokesperson Nick Maddux in a statement.