Mulvaney: Ted Cruz may lose Senate race because he’s not ‘likable’

Sen.
Ted Cruz, R-Texas, listens as President Donald Trump’s Supreme
Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, testifies before the Senate
Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday,
Sept. 5, 2018
Associated
Press/Jacquelyn Martin

• A top White House official reportedly said Saturday
  that Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas might lose his re-election bid
  because he’s not “likable” enough.
• The Office of Management and Budget chief, Mick
  Mulvaney, said it’s “a very real possibility” that Republicans
  will lose a Senate seat in Texas.
• He added that a groundswell of “hate” against President
  Donald Trump has made for a tough battleground for some
  Republican candidates in the 2018 midterm elections.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas might not be “likable” enough to win his
re-election bid in November against his Democratic opponent, Beto
O’Rourke, a top Trump advisor reportedly said on Saturday.

Mick Mulvaney, the Office of Management and Budget chief, made
the remarks at a private meeting with Republican officials and
donors, The New York Times reported.

“Do people like you? That’s a really important question,”
Mulvaney said, according to The Wall Street Journal, which
obtained an audio recording of his remarks. “There’s a very real
possibility we will win a race for Senate in Florida and lose a
race in Texas for Senate.”

Mulvaney was referring to Cruz’s campaign in Texas, and that of
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican who is running for Senate
in a tight race against the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Bill Nelson.

“I don’t think it’s likely, but it’s a possibility,” Mulvaney
added. “How likable is a candidate? That still counts.”

Mulvaney and Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee
chairwoman, expressed their concerns that a groundswell of “hate”
towards President Donald Trump is undermining Republican
candidates in their midterm election campaigns.

But Mulvaney argued that the so-called “blue wave” that some
expect will turn the House of Representatives over to Democrats’
control will fall short of an actual wave election.

“I am a child of the last wave election,” Mulvaney said,
referring to the 2010 midterms, in which he won his House seat.
“Folks always ask me, ‘Is this going to be the same thing for
Democrats as it was for Republicans in 2010?’ The answer is, ‘No
it’s not.'”