Getty, AP
Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Colin Allred.
CNN
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US Rep. Colin Allred has won the Democratic nomination in Texas to take on Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Allred defeated state Sen. Roland Gutierrez and seven other contenders in the Democratic primary Tuesday. And by crossing the 50% threshold, he avoids an automatic primary runoff in May.
Six years after then-Rep. Beto O’Rourke shattered fundraising records with his near-miss bid to unseat Cruz, Texas Democrats are trying again.
However, though that 2018 result was tantalizing to Democrats, who desperate to break through in the nation’s largest red state with their first statewide win since 1994, the party has since fallen flat.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn cruised to a 10-point reelection win in 2020, and GOP Gov. Greg Abbott defeated O’Rourke by 11 points in the 2022 governor’s race. Democrats have lost down-ballot statewide contests by similar margins. The only bright spot for Texas Democrats in 2022 was the party holding two of three competitive House seats in the Rio Grande Valley.
But Texas, along with Florida, might represent Democrats’ best chance of going on offense under the 2024 Senate map. The party is defending a slew of seats in states Trump is likely to win in the presidential race — including Montana, Ohio and West Virginia, as well as presidential battlegrounds Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Julio Cortez/AP
Supporters of Rep. Colin Allred react as he addresses them during an election night gathering on Tuesday in Dallas.
Allred, a former NFL player who first won his Dallas-area seat by ousting a Republican incumbent in a hard-fought 2018 race, has focused on health care — including his support for the Affordable Care Act and abortion rights.
Allred is also a prolific fundraiser, outraising Cruz $4.8 million to $3.4 million in 2023’s fourth quarter and ending the year with $10.1 million in the bank to Cruz’s $6.2 million.
Gutierrez, a longtime state lawmaker from San Antonio best known for his advocacy for gun restrictions in the wake of the elementary school shooting in Uvalde — which is in his district — ran as a more progressive alternative to Allred. He was widely viewed as the most serious challenger to the third-term congressman in the nine-person Democratic field.
Cruz, meanwhile, easily overcame marginal opposition from two little-known Republican primary challengers as he seeks a third term.
