Name: Democrat Sima Ladjevardian slams Houston Rep. Dan Crenshaw over COVID response
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Democrat Sima Ladjevardian slams Houston Rep. Dan Crenshaw over COVID response

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateWith nearly 16,000 Texans dead from the coronavirus, it is no surprise that the response to the pandemic has become a focal point of campaign ads around the state as voters prepare to start heading to the polls in less than two weeks.But the issue is even more raw in Houston’s 2nd Congressional District where Democrat Sima Ladjevardian is running ads that slam U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw for having minimized the seriousness of the disease — a charge Crenshaw’s camp said is false.In her new ad running on cable and network television, Ladjevardian runs a video clip of Crenshaw from March in which he states wearing masks won’t help fight the spread of COVID-19.“Do masks help protect you against the coronavirus? Answer: No they don’t,” Crenshaw says in the ad.Ladjevardian, a Houston lawyer, uses the clip to buttress an argument she’s been making for weeks that Crenshaw has not taken the deadly disease seriously enough.But Crenshaw’s camp said Ladjevardian is being dishonest. The video clip in which Crenshaw says masks don’t help was from March 7, one week after the U.S. Surgeon General declared that masks were not effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. In April, health officials reversed that, saying that new research showed masks are effective in reducing the spread.“Obviously, Dan believes masks are a common-sense personal precaution people can take to slow the spread,” Crenshaw’s campaign spokesman Justin Discigil said. “That is why he purchased 50,000 masks and distributed them to at-need communities in May.”KNOW THE CANDIDATES:More Politics NewsBut Ladjevardian’s campaign says it is not that clean-cut. In April, even after more communities in Texas tried to require masks, Crenshaw slammed Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s mask requirement in the state’s most populous county. Hidalgo’s order threatened to fine people up to $1,000 for failing to wear masks, Crenshaw favored “guidelines for masks in confined spaces” that could be “strongly promoted.”And they point to instances in which Crenshaw has been seen in group settings not wearing a mask. In one case, Crenshaw attended a .Crenshaw’s team said he wore a mask during the event except when he was speaking at the podium or posing for photos.Crenshaw has long been critical of the “over-the top accusations” leveled at the Donald Trump administration on COVID-19. In April, he cut a 5-minute video clip in which he gave a full-throated defense of Trump’s handling of the virus, pointing out that in mid-January, the federal government was already screening incoming passengers from China for COVID-19 and by the end of January he was shutting down travel from China, despite opposition from many Democrats.The video was a big hit with Trump, he retweeted it to his 86 million followers with the comment: “BRILLIANT, A MUST WATCH.”BRILLIANT, A MUST WATCH! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)Crenshaw, a retired Navy SEAL, is seeking his 2nd term in Congress representing the 2nd Congressional District, which runs from Humble to Spring and then into West Houston. While Crenshaw has a big campaign finance advantage over Ladjevardian, the 2018 election result has given Democrats hope they can win the seat.Crenshaw won the district in 2018 by 7 percentage points over Democrat Todd Litton. In 2016, retired Congressman Ted Poe defeated his Democratic opponent by 25 percentage points.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateWith nearly 16,000 Texans dead from the coronavirus, it is no surprise that the response to the pandemic has become a focal point of campaign ads around the state as voters prepare to start heading to the polls in less than two weeks.But the issue is even more raw in Houston’s 2nd Congressional District where Democrat Sima Ladjevardian is running ads that slam U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw for having minimized the seriousness of the disease — a charge Crenshaw’s camp said is false.In her new ad running on cable and network television,...

Democrat Sima Ladjevardian slams Houston Rep. Dan Crenshaw over COVID response

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