Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declined to commit to serving out a full six-year term in the Senate if re-elected in November.
Cruz, who is running against Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, for re-election, declined to say earlier this month when asked in an interview by the Texas Tribune. When pressed by the outlet, he said he is focused on his work in the Senate.
“I am focused on the United States Senate,” Cruz said on Sept. 11. When pressed further, he gave a two-minute long answer that did not answer the question.
“You know, as we stand here today, the Texas Board of Education is getting ready to vote on a proposal, a recommendation they received, to delete the word ‘heroic’ from the description of the defenders of the Alamo,” Cruz said at the beginning of his answer.
“We should be standing up for who we are as Texans and Americans,” he concluded.
[Ted Cruz: If Beto O’Rourke wins, barbecue will be banned in Texas]
O’Rourke said that he would serve out his term despite some clamor for him to run in the 2020 Democratic primary field against President Trump.
“I will commit to serving every single day of my full six-year term for the people of Texas,” O’Rourke said.
Cruz is not expected to run again for the GOP presidential nomination in 2020 as Trump is expected to do so.
The incumbent Republican is currently in a tough re-election fight against O’Rourke, an El Paso native, and leads by only a 4.5-point margin just over a month before election day, according to a RealClearPolitics average.
