Political stunts involving migrants continue as Texas GOP goes all in on border for midterm election

As the first busload of migrants transported out of Texas arrived at the Washington, D.C., residence of Vice President Kamala Harris and in Martha’s Vineyard in September, reigniting a debate over the Biden administration’s handling of a record surge in border crossings just weeks before the midterm elections, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy suggested Republicans should count the political stunt as a campaign contribution. Every Republican in the House and Senate can thank Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis "for saving this election," as they try to take back both chambers from the Democrats, Roy, an Austin Republican, said in a tweet. The GOP sees the border crossings as a political slam dunk and a way to counter Democratic momentum that appeared to be building over the summer after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and President Joe Biden’s approval numbers ticked upward.

Texas Republicans are going all in down the final stretch of the midterms as their messaging around border security has eclipsed virtually every other GOP campaign point, including crime and inflation, a new analysis shows. Republicans in congressional races across Texas tweeted about the border 741 times in September, when the migrant busing again stole the national spotlight. That was a 55 percent increase over July, according to an analysis by the communications firm Digital Advance that was compiled for Hearst Newspapers. By comparison, Republicans tweeted about the economy about 188 times in September, about half as much as they did in July, the analysis shows. “You really have seen them just go border,” said Elyse Yates, Digital Advance's president. The tweets obviously do not account for the entirety of what candidates are saying on the campaign trail but offer a good proxy for their messaging, Yates said.