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Ted Cruz and his firebrand father make dire warnings at Vega rally

October 25, 2022 at 4:57 p.m. EDT
Republican congressional candidate Yesli Vega speaks at a Hispanic Get Out the Vote Rally on Oct. 14 in Lake Ridge, Va. Vega, a former law enforcement officer is running against incumbent Abigail Spanberger in the general election for Virginia's 7th Congressional District on Nov. 8, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and his firebrand father warned voters at a Northern Virginia rally this week that the nation would falter if they don’t send Yesli Vega to Congress.

Cruz, who is barnstorming 17 states for fellow Republicans ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, stumped in Dumfries on Monday night for Vega, the Republican challenging Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) in Virginia’s redrawn 7th Congressional District.

Vega made a high-decibel pitch for herself while Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) predicted she’d ride the “red wave” that began with his win last year in seemingly blue Virginia. But the most forceful pitches came from Cruz and his octogenarian dad — a preacher and Cuban immigrant who warned of Marxists in Washington.

“If we lose this election, America is destroyed,” Rafael Cruz, 83, thundered to the crowd of several hundred outside Montclair Tabernacle Church. “There will not be a 2024. This is the line in the sand.”

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The 2024 reference was notable given that Cruz and Youngkin are both potential presidential contenders. There was no obvious sign of tension between the potential rivals, who share the same political strategist and praised each other. But their contrasting styles were on vivid display, with the more mannerly Youngkin making jabs at Democrats while Cruz fired bombs.

Prices are so high, Cruz complained at one point, “Hunter Biden can’t afford crack cocaine,” referring to the president’s son. He also predicted the elections would send House Speaker Nancy Pelosi home to California on her “broom.” Cruz corrected himself and said she’d take a private jet, weaving in a reference to her husband’s recent driving under the influence conviction. “I really hope her husband doesn’t pick her up at the airport,” he said.

The crowd reacted warmly to both men and to Vega, who invited her parents, both Salvadoran immigrants, to join her onstage. She warned Democrats were making a “deliberate attempt to remove parents from their children’s lives” and said she had a simple solution for the economy, the border crisis and crime: “It’s do the complete opposite of what Abigail Spanberger has been doing.”

“God has called us for such a time as this,” she said, shouting. “Let the arrows fly. … I know that in 15 days we’re gonna flip the 7th District.”

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Some Democrats were only too happy to see Cruz stump for Vega, predicting that the move would backfire in a blue-leaning district that’s home to many federal workers who were furloughed in 2013 amid Cruz’s failed effort to strip funding from the Affordable Care Act.

“My opponent’s desperate decision to campaign with Sen. Ted Cruz — who is infamous for shutting down the government for 16 days in an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act in 2013 — is no surprise, given that my opponent has also voiced her support for shutting down the government,” Spanberger said in a statement posted to Twitter.

Youngkin’s appearance seemed to carry less risk given that he won the 7th District last year. His showing in two other districts — he won the 2nd and came close in the 10th — suggests he could be a help as well with those competitive races.

He offered a broadly upbeat message on behalf of Vega, a former police officer and current auxiliary sheriff’s deputy, aside from swipes at Pelosi and a claim that parents will be arrested “for not conforming to woke views.”

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“Yesli lives a dream, an American dream,” he said. “Yesli, in fact, embodies what it means to love America. She’s a law-enforcement hero.”

The Vega rally was arranged by Cruz’s Truth and Courage PAC. Youngkin is stepping up his own efforts in Virginia’s most competitive congressional races after months of out-of-state campaigning for about a dozen Republican gubernatorial candidates. On Monday alone, ahead of the Vega rally, Youngkin appeared in Chesapeake with state Sen. Jen Kiggans, who is challenging Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) in a Virginia Beach-anchored 2nd District, and in Ashburn for Hung Cao, who challenging Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) in the 10th District, which covers parts of Northern Virginia.

Through a new PAC launched this month, Empowering Virginia Parents, Youngkin has so far spent more than $400,000 assisting the candidates in those districts in the last leg of the race, including on ads, mailers and robocalls or texts, according to federal campaign finance records.

A recent poll found Youngkin with a 50 percent approval rating in Virginia, and a bit higher in the swingy 2nd district, where the Kiggans-Luria matchup is considered a dead heat.

Youngkin is scheduled to headline 16 more rallies in Virginia before Election Day, including back-to-back appearances for Vega, Kiggans and Cao. He has at least one more out-of-state trip in the works; he plans to campaign Wednesday in Wisconsin for Tim Michels, a GOP candidate for governor who has dodged questions about whether he’d try to reverse Trump’s 2020 loss.

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