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WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz wants a new set of “New York values” to take effect.
The Lone Star State Republican implored Empire State voters to “shock the country” by backing Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman and booting incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Nov. 3.
“Right now the radicals are taking over the Democrat Party,” Cruz (R-Texas) said on WABC’s “Cats Roundtable.” “They don’t love America. They hate America. They’re trying to destroy it. If you want to bring the Democrat Party back to sanity, the only way to do it is for them to get resoundingly rejected.
“New York, you got a big gubernatorial race,” he added “It would shock the country to see Kathy Hochul defeated. It would be a powerful statement. New York, you can make a statement to the whole country.”
Hochul has the advantage against Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, with polls showing her holding a comfortable lead in the reliably blue Empire State.
Republicans, including President Trump, have lined up behind Blakeman and sought to rally the GOP base for him.
Cruz, who took heat during his 2016 presidential run for blasting Trump’s “New York values” while trying to paint him as a lefty, warned about the leftward lurch of the Democratic Party. Cruz lost the New York primary and ultimately the nomination to Trump.
The Texas pol is now calling the competitive Senate race in his home state between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and state Rep. James Talarico “frightening.”
“If Texas falls, the whole country falls,” he said, urging listeners to donate money and “help us fight not only to save Texas, but to save the country from this lunacy, from the communists and Islamists that want to destroy our nation.”
Talarico currently has a 2.2 percentage point edge over Paxton, according to the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polls.
Democrats are hoping for a blue wave this midterm election cycle, given historical headwinds against the party in control of the White House and voter concerns about affordability.
Cruz signaled optimism that the lefty insurgency within the Democratic Party could be somewhat of a lifeline for Republicans.
The Texas senator harked back to the GOP’s slew of victories in the 1980s and early 1990s before the rise of former President Bill Clinton, concluding that Dems must be defeated repeatedly in order to moderate again.
“That’s what’s gonna happen if you want to see the Democrat Party come back from crazy town,” he argued. “I’d like to live in a country where we have two parties that are relatively reasonable, and sane, and that love America.”