Texas: The Issue Is - State Sen. Roland Gutierrez enters Democratic primary for U.S. Senate

San Antonio State Senator Roland Gutierrez jumped in the U.S. Senate race, pitting him against Dallas Congressman Colin Allred in the Democratic primary.

FOX 4’s Steven Dial spoke with Gutierrez about his message for Texans. 

Dial: What made you say you need to jump in and run to challenge, hopefully, Ted Cruz? 

Gutierrez: After a lot of reflection on what's going on in our state. I mean, we're just broken. We're broken as a state. We're broken as a nation. And we're broken because of people like Ted Cruz that don't really want to solve the problems that are facing us every day. They would rather pick on people on the margins, you know, talk about immigration as the seminal problem of what's facing in America. 

Dial: How do you separate yourself? Well, first, you have to win a primary. You're challenging Dallas Congressman Colin Allred. What separates you from him or whoever jumps into this race? 

Gutierrez: I've worked all my life. and in my public life, my private life, I've employed people. I have a proven track record for the last 20 years in public office of getting big things done. Making sure, for instance, we passed the National Center for Warrior Resiliency, which treats veterans with opioid addiction. We were able to pass, in a way, with some Republican opposition, the Farmer Suicide Prevention Act, which Sid Miller said saved 60 lives last year.

Dial: So how do you make it known that Uvalde or gun reform is not the only thing that you'll be fighting for Texans for in Congress? 

Gutierrez: The governor's office failed and the attorney general's office failed them. They didn't have communications. Law enforcement failed. There was no ambulatory services to speak of. Government is broken, and when you start peeling away at what's going on, there's a bargain that happens when you and I go pay our taxes. We pay our taxes to be able to get the goods and services of government, make sure that we have working law enforcement, working streets and sidewalks and bridges, and so on. Health care systems that work, grids that work, electrical grids. And there's been way too much failure in Texas, and that failure's at the hands of Republicans like Ted Cruz that have refused to acknowledge it or to do anything to fix it. All Texans, Democrats and Republicans, we deserve more. 

Dial: Do you think the Biden administration has done enough on the border? 

Gutierrez: I think the people need to also not buy into the rhetoric. The fact is we deport thousands of people every day. They come, they try to check themselves in or cross the border illegally, they get deported, many that same day. I think that we have a long road to go on that, but we need to be truthful with people. We have a broken immigration system. We have many jobs in hospitality and restaurants that need that foreign labor force. Some construction companies, certainly our ranchers and our farmers, want to be able to fix the H-2A visa program. We have to be very truthful about it. Most importantly, we have to be truthful with Americans to say that immigrant that’s crossing that river today isn't responsible for your poor health care decisions or your poor education outcomes or your poor infrastructure outcomes that we have. People that are responsible in Texas are the ones that have been charged in the last 30 years and that's the Republican Party. 

Dial: Do you think President Biden can hurt Democrats in Texas when it comes to Democrats trying to do something they haven't done in decades, winning a statewide race? 

Gutierrez: Well, listen, first and foremost, I'm running against Ted Cruz and I'm running my own race against him. But listen, I think that the President has been steadfast. I mean, he has dealt with an economy that he adopted from this last guy, and he's stabilized those things. He's got us back on track in the right direction. And good things don't happen overnight. They take time.