By Bo Erickson and Steve Holland
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas, Feb 27 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump touted his economic and fossil fuel agenda in southern Texas on Friday but was coy about which of three Republican candidates he would back in the state’s looming U.S. Senate primary.
Trump has stayed out of his party’s messy U.S. Senate contest ahead of Tuesday’s vote. His visit to Corpus Christi placed him near several competitive U.S. House of Representatives districts where Hispanic voters, an important constituency for Republicans nationally, could determine the outcome in November’s midterm elections.
Trump, wearing a red Make America Great Again hat, spoke to several hundred supporters at a waterfront rally in front of a ship he said had carried oil from the United States’ “new friend and partner” Venezuela.
Trump boasted about his single-minded determination to increase production of fossil fuels blamed for climate change, saying his policies had led to lower gasoline prices and helped boost economic growth. Gas prices are about 4% lower since January last year.
“We’re witnessing a historic American energy boom like we’ve never seen,” Trump said.
The trip followed a warning from a Texas Republican who said her recent loss in a state legislature race, despite Trump’s endorsement, was a “wake-up call” for the party.
Trump urged his supporters to vote. “We don’t want to lose the midterm. We got to win the midterm,” he said.
TRUMP MUM ON TEXAS SENATE ENDORSEMENT
The president’s event springboarded off his State of the Union address, which sought to draw sharp contrasts with Democrats on affordability and immigration enforcement as they aim to gain control of Congress later this year.
Midterm elections are historically seen as a check on the sitting president, and Trump has warned his agenda will be derailed if his party loses power. But first, Republicans in the deeply conservative state of Texas must settle on who they want to represent them in November’s general election.
Public opinion polls show Senator John Cornyn, in office since 2002, trailing two challengers – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Representative Wesley Hunt – in Texas’ most cutthroat contest.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he had “pretty much” decided who to support but would not share the name.
During the rally, Trump reveled in the three-way competition. “It’s going to be an interesting one,” Trump said, taking time to shout out each candidate in attendance.
As he has done several times before, Trump also raised the prospect of seeking an unconstitutional third term as president.
CAN FORCED REDISTRICTING RESCUE REPUBLICANS?
At the president’s urging last year, Texas Republicans launched a redistricting fight aimed at improving the party’s prospects in U.S. House races. With the new map in effect, Republicans could gain up to five more seats across the state.
Hispanic voters in south Texas are key to the party’s electoral success, said Corpus Christi’s state Senator Adam Hinojosa, the first Republican to represent the Rio Grande Valley in the Texas Senate since 1874.
“We need the job opportunities, we need to make sure that our families are taken care of, we need to be able to afford all of the groceries and things to have a decent lifestyle,” Hinojosa said in an interview ahead of the rally.
Trump has prioritized maximizing U.S. fossil fuel production by rolling back environmental regulations and streamlining permitting for energy projects. The Corpus Christi area is the top exporter of liquefied natural gas in the U.S.
Even so, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 36% of people nationwide approved of Trump’s handling of the economy while 56% disapproved.
Mary Campbell, who attended Friday’s rally and has two Christmas trees she keeps decorated for Trump year-round, said she was “very happy with the border” under his presidency. But the economy, she said, “could use a little more help.”
“I’m sad that prices are not quite controlled yet, but hopefully we’re working in that direction,” Campbell, of Corpus Christi, said. “I have five kids, so you know, I watch some of them struggling.”
(Reporting by Bo Erickson, Jarrett Renshaw and Nolan McCaskill; Writing by Bo Erickson and Steve Holland; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Chris Reese, Rod Nickel)
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