Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) told an invitation-only call — which was secretly recorded — that Democrats are trying to expand voting rights to “illegal aliens” and “child molesters” and Republicans must do all they can to stop them, the AP reports.

He added that if “they push through far-reaching election legislation now before the Senate, the GOP won’t win elections again for generations.”

New York Times: “Passing new restrictions on voting — in particular, tougher limits on early voting and vote-by-mail — is now at the heart of the right’s strategy to keep donors and voters engaged as Mr. Trump fades from public view and leaves a void in the Republican Party that no other figure or issue has filled. In recent weeks, many of the most prominent and well-organized groups that power the G.O.P.’s vast voter turnout efforts have directed their resources toward a campaign to restrict when and how people can vote.”

“Just as notable as the brand-name conservative groups that are raising money off Mr. Trump’s revisionism — Susan B. Anthony List, the Heritage Foundation, the Family Research Council, Tea Party Patriots — are some of the heavy hitters that are sitting this fight out. Americans for Prosperity, the political organization funded by the Koch fortune, is not supporting the efforts to pass more ballot access laws, nor are other groups in the multimillion-dollar Koch political network.”