Current:Home > reviewsColin Allred, Ted Cruz reach end of Senate race that again tests GOP dominance in Texas -Summit Capital Strategies
Colin Allred, Ted Cruz reach end of Senate race that again tests GOP dominance in Texas
View
Date:2025-04-12 17:30:37
Follow live: Updates from AP’s coverage of the presidential election.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, sought to fend off an underdog challenge Tuesday from Democratic Rep. Colin Allred in one of the year’s most expensive races, which is testing shifts in America’s biggest red state and could factor into the fight for U.S. Senate control.
Allred, a three-term congressman from Dallas, was in an uphill battle against Cruz, who has urged Republicans to take the race seriously after only narrowly winning his last reelection in 2018. No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas in 30 years, the longest political losing streak of its kind in the U.S.
But shifting demographics in Texas — driven by a booming Hispanic population — and shrinking margins of victory for GOP candidates have sustained Democrats’ belief that victories are in reach. Those hopes left Democrats seeing Texas as one of their few pickup opportunities in a year when they were defending twice as many Senate seats as Republicans nationally.
Both candidates raised more than $160 million combined in the race.
Allred, who would become Texas’ first Black senator, has powered his upset bid by presenting himself as a moderate choice while mostly keeping political distance from Vice President Kamala Harris. That has not deterred Cruz from casting his opponent as politically likeminded with Harris, whose presidential campaign has not made an aggressive play to flip Texas.
Allred, 41, is a former NFL linebacker and civil rights attorney who has made abortion rights one of his top issues in a state that has one of the nation’s most-restrictive bans. He campaigned with Texas women who were hospitalized with serious pregnancy complications after the Texas ban took effect and has vowed to help restore the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed a woman’s constitutional right to abortion.
Cruz, who is seeking a third six-year term, has largely avoided the topic on the campaign trail while hammering Allred on the issues of immigration and policies that support transgender rights. He has called Allred out of touch with Texas, where Democrats control the state’s big cities but have been shut out of power statewide and at the Texas Capitol, where the GOP holds commanding majorities.
Allred hopes to take advantage of Texas’ shifting demographics, which along with the booming Hispanic population also includes an increase in the number of Black residents and people relocating from other states. He also has experience defeating a high-profile Republican incumbent, having entered Congress with a victory over Rep. Pete Sessions, who later successfully ran in a different district.
In the late stages of the race, Allred sought to tap into some of the Democratic enthusiasm around Harris at the top of the ticket, including appearing at a packed Houston rally with the vice president and superstar Beyoncé. Cruz spent the final week of the race rallying supporters in solidly GOP rural and suburban counties that have been key firewalls to Democratic gains in Texas.
veryGood! (912)
Related
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Young track star Quincy Wilson, 16, gets historic chance to go to the Olympics
- Prince William, George and Charlotte attend Taylor Swift's concert in London: A great evening
- Gena Rowlands has Alzheimer’s, her son Nick Cassavetes says
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Severe thunderstorms cut power to more than 150,000 Michigan homes and businesses
- Everything we know about Noah Lyles, Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and a bet with Chase Ealey
- Athing Mu stumbles, falls in 800 meters and will not have chance to defend her Olympic title
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Maximalist Jewelry Is Having a Moment—Here’s How to Style the Trendy Statement Pieces We’re Obsessed With
Ranking
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- A nonprofit got jobs for disabled workers in California prisons. A union dispute could end them
- Things to know about dangerous rip currents and how swimmers caught in one can escape
- Flooding leaves Rapidan Dam in Minnesota in 'imminent failure condition': What to know
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Missouri, Kansas judges temporarily halt much of President Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan
- Nurse was treating gunshot victim when she was killed in Arkansas mass shooting
- Save an Extra 50% on Gap Sale Styles, 50% on Banana Republic, 70% on ASOS & More Deals
Recommendation
Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
World's tallest dog Kevin dies at age 3: 'He was just the best giant boy'
She needed an abortion. In post-Roe America, it took 21 people and two states to help her.
Supreme Court won’t hear case claiming discrimination in Georgia Public Service Commission elections
Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
Dave Grohl takes aim at Taylor Swift: 'We actually play live'
Declaring an Epidemic of ‘Toxic Litter,’ Baltimore Targets Plastic Makers and Packaging in the Latest Example of Plastics Litigation
Netanyahu reiterates claim about U.S. withholding weapon shipments as Democrats grapple with attending his Congress address