A downtown San Antonio ballroom is the starting point for Vice President Mike Pence’s two day Texas two-step, which will take him south to the border and north to the toney parts of Dallas, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The visit is part fundraising and part political posturing.
The first stop, which is the Weston hotel, is raising cash for the Republican Party. State Chairman James Dickey says it feels good to have national leaders that like coming to Texas.
“It’s great to have an administration with our back for once, instead of a giant headwind, trying to break us down,” he tells News Radio 1200 WOAI.
Tomorrow, Vice President Pence heads to Dallas to raise money for the National Republican Congressional Committee. He'll be joined by Dallas Congressmen Pete Sessions and Jeb Hensarling.
SMU political Analyst Cal Jillson says Hensarling is retiring this year, but Sessions is one of a handful of Texas Republicans who are seen as vulnerable during the midterm election. The Republican Party in Texas is well funded, he says, but they can use all the cash they can get.
“The Democrats have targeted Sessions because his district is one that Clinton won by one point and has become increasingly diverse,” he says.
He predicts a good chunk of the money raised during the trip will go to the Republican candidate in Texas’s 21st congressional district. Lamar Smith of Alamo Heights is retiring this year, and there are 18 candidates running to replace him.
But in the middle of fundraising speeches, Vice President Pence will visit McAllen as part of the administration’s push for a border wall.
The funding aspect has been a pivotal part of the debate over protecting young migrants who were illegally brought across the border by their parents.
This will be the Vice President’s third visit to Texas in recent times. He helped clean debris in Rockport after Hurricane Harvey and met with victims of the Sutherland Springs shooting.
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