The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said it's releasing digital ads criticizing Austin-area Congressman Chip Roy after the Republican single-handedly delayed a disaster aid package Friday.
The DCCC announced the ads "will reach thousands of voters in Texas’ 21st Congressional District on Facebook and Instagram."
The freshman congressman opposed a $19 billion bipartisan aid package that would have provided aid to hurricane-prone parts of Texas, as well as other parts of the country dealing with natural disasters.
“Congressman Roy just singlehandedly blocked a unanimous, bipartisan agreement on disaster relief,” DCCC Spokesperson Avery Jaffe said in a statement. “That’s a fitting close to a month where he stood on the side of drug companies overcharging Americans for their prescriptions and voted for higher taxes on Gold Star families. Every day Congressman Roy spends in Washington he turns more into a creature of the swamp, and the families in Texas he’s hurting need to know that.”
Roy said in a statement he was opposing the package because members of Congress weren't at the Capitol to vote for it in person. He also said the bill “includes nothing to address the clear national emergency and humanitarian crisis we face at the southern border.”
The DCCC announced earlier this year that it was setting its sights on flipping six congressional districts in Texas in 2020. Half of those seats, including Roy's, are in the Austin area.
Roy represents Texas’ 21st Congressional District, which includes southern parts of Travis County, as well as parts of San Antonio and the Hill Country. He narrowly won election in 2018, beating Democrat Joseph Kopser by less than 3 percentage points in that race.
Democrats are also eyeing seats held by Republican Reps. John Carter and Michael McCaul, whose districts also include parts of Austin. Both also won their elections narrowly in 2018. Republican operatives have said growing populations in the suburbs and exurbs around major cities in the state have made some congressional seats more competitive ahead of 2020.
