District 15 candidate continues push as he casts runoff ballot during early voting

McALLEN — With early voting in the Democratic primary runoff election fully underway, Ruben Ramirez, a candidate for Texas’ 15th Congressional District, cast his ballot as he continues to appeal to voters.

During his stop at the Lark Community Center on Wednesday, Ramirez reiterated one of his campaign messages, which is that he is the most qualified candidate.

“I’m the person that has the knowledge, the experience, the training, the education, that has a history of service to this country and our community,” Ramirez said, underscoring his experience as a former teacher, Army veteran and attorney.

He also reiterated that he understood what it was like to struggle to make ends meet and committed to protecting and expanding the Affordable Care Act and lowering prescription costs.

“You look at that and that is what makes me the best candidate to be able to represent, and that is why I will win November with the help of these amazing voters, my wonderful wife and family, and just big crowds of supporters that you see,” he said.

Ramirez, a moderate Democrat, is running in the runoff election against Michelle Vallejo, a progressive.

Among their different positions are their views on Medicare-for-All, something that Vallejo supports but Ramirez adamantly opposes.

“I am advocating for Medicare-For-All,” Vallejo said Monday. “It’s what we deserve, and many people are jumping on board because they understand that it comes down to real life experiences.”

But Ramirez has criticized Vallejo for her support of it, saying Medicare-for-All is unrealistic and would create too much government interference.

“People don’t want it,” Ramirez said. “It’s not a viable option because it would bankrupt the country. It’s a pie in the sky dream to be able to get it done and that’s the difference between her and me is I have the knowledge, education, skill, and experience.

“We can continue to expand what we have right now, the Affordable Care Act,” he added. “People don’t want government dictating what kind of medical care and services that they’re going to be getting.”

They also differ on Title 42, a health policy leveraged to expel asylum seekers at the border due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that, after more than two years, the policy would be lifted May 23.

“Title 42 right now, it’s premature to revoke it,” Ramirez said. “It’s the same stance as many other members of Congress, especially on the border, and leaders here on the border have expressed.”

He added that more needed to be done to secure the border.

“We need to make sure we have systems in place, that we have the personnel, that we have enough training, and we understand what is the process that we’re going to be able to do to ensure the safety and the security of people here within the district and within the country,” Ramirez said.

Meanwhile, Vallejo called Title 42 a bad policy and a temporary solution.

“Here in the border region, we are deserving of more robust solutions. So we need investments in border infrastructure in order to better secure our home and that includes investments in our ports of entry for both public and private use, investments in pathway to citizenship and also an investment in access to asylum,” she said.

With just a few days left during the early voting period, Ramirez encouraged residents to stop by and get to know him.

“I’m jumping around from the different polls as we’ve done before, so I’m extremely accessible and I really look forward to earning their vote and meeting them in person,” he said.

Early voting will continue through Friday and election day is Tuesday.