John Cornyn is a native Texan who is currently running for re-election in hopes of maintaining his U.S. Senate seat for a third term. Cornyn is experienced, level-headed and intelligent. I know he is the right person to represent Texans in Washington. Here’s why:
To start, Cornyn has been in Texas his whole life. He was born in Houston, grew up in San Antonio and graduated from Trinity University with a degree in journalism. He would later go on to get his law degree from St. Mary’s Law School. Since then, he has been a faithful public servant for Texans. Before his time in Washington as a Senator, he was a force to be reckoned with in state politics.
At the age of only 32, residents elected Cornyn to be a district judge in Bexar County. After serving in this role for six years, state citizens elected him to serve on the Texas Supreme Court. In his final move in state politics, Cornyn resigned from the Texas Supreme Court to run to be the Texas Attorney General. He won that election, making him the first Republican to win the office of state Attorney General since Reconstruction. Cornyn has a proven record of serving Texans, unlike his opponent, Mary Jennings ‘MJ’ Hegar, who has never held any public office, much less in Texas.
Cornyn’s successful career serving Texans at a state-level made him a no-brainer to represent the state’s constituents in D.C. He won his first bid for the U.S. Senate in 2002 handily, with more than 55 percent of the vote.
Cornyn’s record as a Senator speaks for itself. He has won many awards for his time in the Senate. He was most notably the first recipient of the Project on Government Oversights’ Bi-Partisan Leadership Award. In a time when there is such hyper-partisanship, we need someone in office who has a proven record of working across the aisle. He has also won three “Hero of the Taxpayer” awards from Americans for Tax Reform, an issue that is critical to Texans.
He currently sits on three committees, all of which are extremely powerful and influential. These include the Committee on Finance, Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Intelligence. He also served as the Senate Majority whip from 2013-2019 — all positions that greatly benefit Texans. Cornyn being in a position of power, gives Texans a powerful voice, that will only help the Lone Star State.
OK, so I’ve given you a brief history lesson on John Cornyn, so you may be wondering: What are some things he cares about now? Let me tell you.
As someone whose mother battled cancer and lost that battle, my family knows the burden of relying on outrageously priced prescription drugs. Cornyn has fought relentlessly to lower those prices, comparing big pharma and their bills to money laundering.
I’m a student who has gone to public school my entire life, so I deeply care about our education system. Cornyn has been an ally to the Texas education system by fighting for aid for low-income students and has even pushed for market-based reforms to assist students and parents struggling with federal loan interest rates.
Most importantly, he cares about our wallets. He’s a strong supporter of tax relief so we as Texans can have more money in the bank and more thriving businesses. Cornyn helped craft the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which has resulted in economic growth and individual increases in wealth.
What is most admirable about Cornyn is that his No. 1 mission is to serve the people of Texas. That’s it. He has never run for president or even launched an exploratory committee to do so, and you don’t see him on talk shows every night. A politician who isn’t overly ambitious or getting in front of a camera every chance they get? Unbelievable — I know! But Cornyn isn’t interested in being in the limelight. His only interest is serving us as Texans.
Sam Somogye is a political science senior and columnist for The Battalion. His column is typically published online every other Monday when not in the Thursday newspaper.