Democrat MJ Hegar backs term limits for Congress, saying no one ‘should serve more than two terms as senator’

WASHINGTON — Round Rock Air Force veteran MJ Hegar — the Democrat taking on Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a three-term incumbent — on Thursday underscored her support for term limits in Congress, saying that no one “should serve more than two terms as senator.”

“I don’t think our Founding Fathers intended for politics to become an industry unto itself,” she said in a virtual meeting with editorial board.

But Hegar declined to commit to serving only two terms, if elected, if she ends up being unable to pass legislation that requires such a limit for her and other senators.

“I certainly hope I’m not serving more than two terms in the Senate. This was not what I wanted to do with my life,” she said, before making a reference to Harrison Ford’s character in Star Wars. “I wanted to be a combat pilot and Han Solo, but here we are.”

Hegar’s stance dovetailed her efforts to cast Cornyn as a politician who’s been in Washington too long — and who’s become beholden, she said, to deep-pocketed donors and party bosses.

The Democrat noted that Cornyn has served as the No. 2 Republican in the Senate and how some make the argument that it would be to Texas’ detriment to “lose that kind of influence” by turning “that position over to a freshman senator.”

“Has John Cornyn used that influence for us?” asked Hegar, who voted in the past for Cornyn and other Republicans. “Go and look at those promises he made in 2002 that made me vote for him and why hasn’t there been action on those things?

“Either he’s ineffective or he’s lying to us and doesn’t really want to fight for those things,” she continued.

In particular, Hegar ripped Cornyn over health care.

“Think about how it would feel to be a senator for 18 years of a state that is 50th in the nation for lack of access to coverage,” she said. “Wouldn’t that be one of your top priorities, to try to get more people access to coverage? I mean it would be mine.”

Cornyn, who’s been bracing for a stiff reelection challenge, has cast himself as a steadying influence in the Senate. While his campaign hasn’t hesitated to swipe at Hegar, he didn’t launch any jabs at her last week in his virtual meeting with The News‘ editorial board.

Cornyn campaign spokeswoman Krista Piferrer said Hegar’s “insults ring hollow.”

She provided a list of Cornyn’s accomplishments, including relief efforts in response to COVID-19 and Hurricane Harvey; “increased resources to combat human trafficking and support survivors”; “expanded international trade to boost our economy”; and “the list goes on.”

Piferrer also said Hegar’s “’beholden’ line is the height of hypocrisy.”

”Texans should expect MJ to follow her chief bankroller, Chuck Schumer — who said, ‘Everything is on the table,’ including packing the court — just as she has on every other issue,” Piferrer said, referring to the Senate minority leader.

In Hegar’s chat with The News‘ editorial board, she staked out a couple of positions on the Supreme Court, which has garnered added attention now that the GOP-run Senate is moving ahead with plans to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat by the end of the year.

The Democrat said she supports term limits — ideally 18 years — for Supreme Court justices.

But Hegar said, “At this point, I’m not for adding Supreme Court seats.” Some Democrats have suggested that court-packing idea as a possible way to seek retribution against the GOP over its decision to move quickly to fill Ginsburg’s seat with federal judge Amy Coney Barrett.

“I’m open to structural changes, but I need to hear arguments about why it’s best for our country,” Hegar said. “At this point, I haven’t heard those arguments.”

Hegar added that the “arguments I’m hearing right now are about how that’s going to help one party or another.” She said that kind of focus could prove to be a strategic blunder because the “pendulum inevitably swings to the other side and then it hurts that party.”