U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas, District 32) confirmed rumors Wednesday that he'll run for U.S. Senate next year against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.
Allred on Wednesday released a 3-minute campaign video in which he attacks Cruz, pointing to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
"Ted Cruz, he cheered on the mob and hid in a supply closet when they stormed the capitol. But that is Ted for you, all hat, no cattle,” said Allred in the video.
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Citing several sources familiar with his decision, our partners at The Dallas Morning News reported Allred's intent to run on Monday, but the office for the representative did not comment on the story at the time.
Democrats currently hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate and face a tough electoral map in 2024, when their party will be defending 23 seats compared with Republicans’ 10. Three of those Democratic seats are in states that then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, won in the 2020 election.
“Some people say a Democrat can't win in Texas,” Allred said in the video. “Well, someone like me was never supposed to get this far.”
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Allred doesn't have a large profile in Texas beyond his Dallas district. He is introducing himself to voters by making the case that Cruz, who voted to reject the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's presidential election victory over Trump following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is too far to the right and turned his back on Texas by taking a family vacation during a deadly winter storm later that year.
Cruz’s campaign said in a statement that Allred is “too extreme for Texas” and has a voting record that’s “completely out-of-touch” with the state.
Cruz spokesman Nick Maddux released the following statement after Allred's announcement.
“Democrats have once again turned to a far-left radical to run for Senate. Not only does Colin Allred vote with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time, but his voting record is completely out-of-touch with Texas. Allred wants men to compete in women’s sports, isn’t serious about addressing the crisis at the border, wants to take away law-abiding Texans’ guns, and is soft on punishing murderers. Bottom line, Allred is too extreme for Texas. Thankfully, the Lone Star State has a tireless champion in Sen. Ted Cruz. For over a decade, Sen. Cruz has been leading the fight for jobs, freedom, and security in Texas. As Senator for Texas, Sen. Cruz will continue to do everything he can to bring more jobs to Texas, fight out-of-control government spending, and support the oil and gas industry from the attacks of Democrats like Joe Biden and Colin Allred.”
No other big names in Texas have officially entered the Senate race for Democrats. State Senator Roland Gutierrez is reportedly considering a bid and so is former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
"Whoever the Democrats nominate, will that person capture the attention of the state the way Beto, did can they raise anything near the amount of money that Beto did,” said SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson.
Cruz is well known as a strong fundraiser. So, whoever challenges him will need to raise a lot of money.
Allred, who joined Congress after beating longtime U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions in 2018, was elected to his third two-year term in the U.S. House in 2022. He has often been a critic of the state's junior senator, most recently on Monday while discussing the CHIPS bill, which is $52 billion earmarked for companies to boost domestic production of computer chips. He ducked a question about the Senate race Monday morning, but managed to get in a comment about Ted Cruz.
"I'm really proud to have voted for this. I'm glad that Sen. Cornyn was a leader for it in the Senate. I think Sen. Cruz should have voted for it as well because if any state would have benefitted from it, it's Texas," Allred said Monday morning.
There has been speculation that he could make a run for U.S. Senate for several months and said in March 2023 he thinks Texas could do better than Ted Cruz.
"I know I'm going to play a role in trying to make sure that we get a better senator, somebody who I think is interested in what's best for our people and not just for himself," Allred said in March.
Allred is a former NFL linebacker who was a standout at Baylor University and later attended law school at UC Berkeley. Since leaving professional football, Allred has worked in the Obama administration, under Julián Castro in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He later returned to private practice before running for the U.S. House.
"He [Allred] won the congressional seat … by casting himself as a business-minded Democrat. A Democrat not caught up in partisanship and so he's going to try to sell himself as that but on a statewide basis," said DMN political writer Gromer Jeffers.
Cruz announced he was seeking a third six-year term in the Senate last November, and told the DMN earlier this year that he wasn't going to seek another run for the White House at this time. He was the runner-up for the GOP nomination in 2016.
Cruz went on to narrowly win re-election in the Senate in 2018, holding off Beto O'Rourke by less than three points after the pair spent more money on the race than any other Senate candidates in state history.
"You know, he had to see this coming and I think he will try to run against Allred in the same way that he ran against Beto O'Rourke, which is, 'Allred is too liberal for Texas,'" Jeffers said.
Allred and Cruz will not face off at the ballot box until Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, provided they both win their party primaries on March 5, 2024.
NBC 5's Julie Fine contributed to this report.
