Now that Rep. Steve Stockman has made the surprise announcement that he will primary Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn next year, the famously incendiary congressman’s tweets are enjoying increased scrutiny.
Here’s a sample: A tweet on April 11 announced a new bumper sticker Stockman, Republican of Texas, was offering donors: “If babies had guns, they wouldn’t be aborted.” And a day later: “Get the bumper sticker that liberals hate! One sticker for every $10.”
Stockman is considered a long shot, but he is expected to force Cornyn to tack even further right. Cornyn isn’t exactly a liberal, but he angered his party’s right flank when he publicly distanced himself from Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s faux-filibuster.
On Monday night, shortly after Stockman’s 11th-hour announcement, Cornyn’s campaign issued a statement saying, “Endorsed by Texas Right to Life and ranked as the second most conservative senator in America, Senator Cornyn looks forward to discussing his conservative record with Texans.” Abortion isn’t an issue on which the two men differ, though when Cornyn was running the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he withdrew support for Todd “legitimate rape” Akin. (He did, however, stand by failed Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who made his own inflammatory comments on rape.)
Texas remains ground zero for the struggle over abortion rights. Much of the omnibus abortion bill filibustered by Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis last June has become law, though it will be heard by the Fifth Circuit in January. Davis is now running for governor in the same election cycle as Stockman and Cornyn. As Republicans struggle to figure out how to talk to women, Stockman offers one approach through his very active — and sometimes controversial — campaign Twitter account, which was recently changed from @ReElectStockman to @StockmanSenate as he announced his Senate campaign. Below, check out some of his most notable tweets on women’s issues.
Irin Carmon
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