Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to face Colin Allred generally election

Allred wins, now will face Sen. Ted Cruz

Rep. Colin Allred on Tremendous Tuesday gained the Democratic main to tackle Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in November, which can doubtless be a closely-watched race. 

Democrats solely have a 51-49 majority within the Senate, and are prone to lose Sen. Joe Manchin’s seat in deep-red West Virginia since he’s not operating for reelection. On this cycle, there are two different Democratic senators up for reelection in states gained by former President Donald Trump in 2020.  

Taking up Cruz will likely be a longshot since no Democrat has gained a statewide race in Texas in 30 years. Regardless of that Texas leans crimson, former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke got here inside three factors of Cruz in 2018. On the time, O’Rourke raised $38 million in a single quarter, which was then a file for a Senate candidate. 

That very same yr, two Democrats, together with Allred, flipped two Home seats, and Democrats flipped 12 seats within the state Home. However that was the top of the intense spot for Texas Democrats, with the occasion failing to flip any extra seats in 2020, and O’Rourke dropping the governor’s race by 10 factors in 2022. 

Though Democrats regained management of the Home in 2018, it was a harder map for the Senate, the place they misplaced 4 seats. Their solely pickups that yr had been in Nevada, with Sen. Jacky Rosen, and Arizona, with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who later switched to being an unbiased. On Tuesday, Sinema introduced she wouldn’t be in search of reelection.

Who’s Sen. Ted Cruz?

Cruz, 53, was first elected to the Senate in 2012. A conservative firebrand, he ran for president in 2016 and gained the second-most delegates after former President Donald Trump. Though he later embraced Trump, he delivered a fiery rebuke to Trump on the 2016 Republican Nationwide Conference and didn’t endorse him. 

In 2018, he was anticipated to sail to reelection in deep-red Texas, however O’Rourke gained nationwide recognition and raised massive cash within the race. Though he got here inside three factors of Cruz, O’Rourke later launched a failed bid for president in 2019, after which misplaced by 10 factors in opposition to Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022. 

Cruz as soon as once more made nationwide headlines in 2021 when he was noticed leaving Texas for Mexico whereas a lot of the state had no electrical energy throughout an ice storm. He stated later the journey was “clearly a mistake.” Democrats, together with Allred, have mocked him relentlessly for it. 

However even and not using a main challenger, Cruz has already raised greater than $46 million for the 2024 election. 

Who’s Rep. Colin Allred?

A former NFL participant who lives north of Texas, the 40-year-old Allred was first elected to the Home in 2018, when Democrats retook the Home. He was certainly one of two Democrats who flipped U.S. Home seats in Texas that yr.

Allred was certainly one of 14 Home Democrats who joined with Republicans in a decision to sentence President Biden over his “open borders insurance policies.” 

If elected, Allred could be the primary Black senator from Texas. 

Allred had raised greater than $21 million for the 2024 race. He had confronted almost a dozen challengers, with essentially the most critical challenger being Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio.