Texas congressional candidate asks law enforcement to investigate robocall saying she murdered her husband

Texas Republican Susan Wright, who is running in a special House race on Saturday to replace her late husband, former Rep. Ron Wright (R), is calling on law enforcement to investigate a robocall that went out accusing her of murdering him.

Wright’s campaign said in a statement it has reached out to the FBI and Justice Department to investigate the call, which went out to supporters just a day before the special election in Texas’s 6th Congressional District.

“This is illegal, immoral, and wrong. There’s not a sewer too deep that some politicians won’t plumb. Imagine it: someone is attacking my late husband, the love of my life, a man who gave me such joy in life. I will not let darkness rule. I live by the light of Christ and his truth will sustain me — as it sustained me when I lost my husband,” Wright said in a statement. 

Ron Wright died from the coronavirus in February, sparking the special election in which his widow is running.

The robocall, which was first reported by Politico, features a female voice saying Wright “murdered her husband,” and that “she’s now running for Congress to cover it up.”

It also accuses Wright of obtaining “a $1 million life insurance policy on the life of her husband … six months before his death” before concluding that “it is clear that the voters of Texas’s 6th Congressional District deserve to know the truth about Susan Wright and her involvement in the death of her husband.”

The robocall did not include information on who paid for it.

The call marks a departure from what has been a rather staid race. Several Republicans in the running have gone after each other over their conservative and pro-Trump bona fides, though there have been few attacks on such a personal level.

Wright has been running on her legacy as an activist in her district and her ties to her late husband. She has garnered the support of a slate of Republican powerhouses, including former President Trump and the conservative Club for Growth.

She is running in a field of 22 other Republicans and Democrats, all of whom will appear on the same ballot Saturday. The top two vote-getters will head to a runoff if no candidate earns an outright majority.

Wright’s campaign said it was appalled by the robocall but insisted it will not knock them off track heading into the election.

“When we heard reports of this criminal smear of a robocall attacking Susan, we immediately referred the matter to law enforcement and started cooperating with authorities. Susan’s opponents are desperate and resorting to disgusting gutter politics because they know she’s the front-runner,” said Matt Langston, Wright’s general consultant. “I’m looking forward to someone going to jail over these robocalls, but that’s a Sunday problem. On Saturday, we win.”