Bruun backs Cloud for June 30 special election

It's time to kiss and make up in the Republican Party said defeated congressional candidate Bech Bruun yesterday. The change in attitude comes as officials circle the wagons around Michael Cloud, who won last week's runoff for Congressional District 27, formerly held by Blake Farenthold, who quit April 6 amid sexual harassment complaints from a former office worker.

A joint press conference was held at the Nueces County GOP headquarters in Corpus Christi where Bruun pledged his support for Cloud and promised to get out of the way during the upcoming special election.

Bruun and Cloud are penciled in to be on the ballot for the June 30 special election to fill the remainder of Farenthold's term, whose office has sat vacant since he fled Washington. The winner of the special election would serve until January when the winner of the November general election between Cloud and Democratic nominee Eric Holguin is seated. Bruun said during his concession speech last week that he would not contest the June 30 race and would coalesce support around Cloud instead.

“I always believed that I would put my constituents first,” said Bruun, seated next to Cloud in the press conference. “And as a candidate in this congressional race, I pledged to put the needs of the constituents of this congressional district first and foremost, all the time. So now as a former candidate in this race, I believe that I am following through with that pledge and doing the same by offering and endorsing Michael Cloud moving forward in this campaign and throwing my full support behind Michael and working for him and with him to insure that we get Michael elected. Not just in November.”

Bruun also stated that he wishes to get Cloud elected in order to “put him to work as soon as possible” for voters in the 27th district.