Davis vs. Roy: Spotlight on Candidates in Texas’ 21st Congressional District
October 20, 2020 - Statewide
Opposing views. Former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis and U.S. Representative Chip Roy are in an unpredictably close race in the 21st Congressional District of Texas. Photos: Facebook.
By Jade Esteban Estrada, Political Columnist, San Antonio Sentinel
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis and U.S. Represenative Chip Roy are vying for the congressional seat in TX-21
- Political pundits see the district as a toss up because Roy won his 2018 congressional bid by a 3-point margin
Republican Congressman Chip Roy and former Texas state Senator Wendy R. Davis are two contrasting candidates facing off in the 21st Congressional District of Texas, a GOP-held division of the state that stretches from northern San Antonio, to downtown Austin, and westward towards the scenic Hill Country.
In 2018, Roy won his first congressional bid with 50.2 percent of the vote. His Democratic rival, Joseph Kopser, garnered 47.6 percent, while the Libertarian candidate, Lee Santos, trailed with 2.1 percent of the tally.
Two years later, some feel the area’s growing diversity could flip the district.
For the past four decades, Texas 21 has been led by a Republican. After the retirement of former U.S. Representative Lamar Smith, Roy ran for the open seat. He has since become an outspoken voice in Congress as a member of the Freedom Caucus, which consists of conservative Republican members of the U.S. House.
The Cook Political Report, a source of nonpartisan analysis that many observers look to for accurate political forecasting, lists the TX-21 race as a Republican toss up.
There are two additional candidates in this race: Green Party challenger Thomas Wakely and Liberatrian candidate Arthur DiBianca. Like in 2018, this contest is once again expected to be unpredictably close as support for the Wakely and DiBianca campaigns could create a rickety stage for the top-performing candidates.
For some Texas Democrats, Davis is a feminist icon. In 2013, she rose to national fame after her 13-hour filibuster against SB5’s abortion restrictions in the Texas state Senate, where she wore a pair of now legendary pink sneakers. In 2014, she lost her gubernatorial campaign against now-Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who is currently serving his second term.
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The government’s response to Covid-19 has been one of the top issues debated in this race. According to a New York Times database, 8.2 million people in the United States have contracted the coronavirus and more than 220,500 have died.
Davis and Roy have each responded differently to the pandemic. In an early October debate hosted by News 4 San Antonio, Davis appeared virtually; Roy appeared in studio.
On a split-screen, Davis pointed to Roy’s social media feeds as evidence of his unwillingness to consistently wear a face covering or practice social distancing. “This isn’t just a failure to lead by example,” she said. “It puts people in our community, in the halls of Congress, and, yes, at the debate site, at risk.’
Roy, who strongly advocates a swift reopening of the economy, expressed his confidence in the concept of herd immunity as a way to combat the coronavirus crisis. “We had reports today, again, by some 1,700, 1,800 doctors and epidemiologists pointing out how important it is [that] those of us who are healthy - those of us who are still healthy - go out and engage in society so we can, in fact, build immunity while we work towards a vaccine. That’s how you protect the vulnerable,” he said, referencing what is known as The Great Barrington Declaration, a petition authored by three public health scientists who are concerned about the physical and mental health impacts of strict Covid-19 policies.
The online petition has been signed by over 10,000 public health and medical scientists. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, is not one of them. He believes that allowing the virus to spread in an effort to reach herd immunity would result in unnecessary deaths and, in a recent interview with CNBC, called the idea “nonsense.”
Beyond the coronavirus response debate, the opposing views of these two candidates seem to represent the ideological divide among Texans on issues of health care, immigration, and much more.
Early voting ends October 30 in Bexar County. Election Day is November 3.
Jade Esteban Estrada is a political columnist for the San Antonio Sentinel. He can be reached at jade@sasentinel.com.