Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Rep. Colin Allred met for his or her solely debate Tuesday night time, buying and selling assaults over abortion and immigration in a intently watched race that would assist decide which social gathering wins management of the U.S. Senate.
Nationally, Democrats view Texas as one among their few potential pickup possibilities within the Senate this 12 months, whereas Cruz has urged Republicans to take Texas significantly amid indicators that the previous 2016 presidential contender is in one other aggressive race to maintain his seat.
From begin to end within the hourlong debate, Cruz sought to hyperlink Allred to Vice President Kamala Harris at almost each alternative and painted the three-term Dallas congressman as out of step in a state the place voters haven’t elected a Democrat to a statewide workplace in 30 years.
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Allred lashes out at Cruz’s ‘anger-tainment’ strategy
Allred, who would develop into Texas’ first Black senator if elected, hammered Cruz over the state’s abortion ban that is among the most restrictive within the nation and doesn’t enable exceptions in circumstances of rape or incest. The concern is central to Allred’s underdog marketing campaign and his supporters embrace Texas ladies who had critical being pregnant issues after the state’s ban took impact.
Pressed on whether or not he helps Texas’ legislation, Cruz stated the specifics of abortion legislation have been and ought to be determined by the Texas Legislature.
“I don’t serve within the state Legislature. I’m not the governor,” he stated.
Cruz later blasted Allred over his help of transgender rights and immigration polices of President Joe Biden and Harris, accusing him of shifting his views on border safety from the positions he took when he was first elected to Congress in 2018.
“What I all the time stated is that we’ve to be sure that as we’re speaking about border safety, that we don’t fall into demonizing,” Allred stated.
Allred accused the two-term U.S. senator of mischaracterizing his file and repeatedly jabbed Cruz for his household trip to Mexico throughout a lethal winter storm in 2021 that crippled the state’s energy grid.
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The two candidates closed the controversy by attacking one another, with Cruz portray an Allred victory as a menace to Republicans’ grip on Texas.
“Congressman Allred and Kamala Harris are each working on the identical radical agenda,” Cruz stated.
Allred, in the meantime, solid himself as a reasonable and accused Cruz of partaking in what he described as “anger-tainment, the place you simply go away folks upset and also you podcast about it and also you write a e-book about it and also you make some cash on it, however you are not really there when folks want you.”
Cruz refashions marketing campaign to give attention to legislative file, Allred seeks reasonable credentials
The final time Cruz was on the poll in 2018, he solely narrowly received reelection over challenger Beto O’Rourke.
The debate provided Allred, a former NFL linebacker, an opportunity to spice up his title identification to a broad Texas viewers. Allred has made defending abortion rights a centerpiece of his marketing campaign and has been sharply important of the state’s abortion ban. The concern has been a successful one for Democrats, even in purple states like Kentucky and Kansas, ever for the reason that U.S. Supreme Court’s determination in 2022 to strip away constitutional protections for abortion.
Cruz, who quick made a reputation for himself within the Senate as an uncompromising conservative, has refashioned his marketing campaign to give attention to his legislative file.
Allred has in the meantime sought to flash reasonable credentials and has the endorsement of former Republican U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney.
The two candidates alone have raised near $100 million, in line with the latest stories from the Federal Election Commission. Tens of hundreds of thousands extra {dollars} have been spent by exterior teams, making it some of the costly races within the nation.
Despite Texas’ repute as a deep-red state and the Democrats’ 30-year statewide drought, the social gathering has grown more and more optimistic in recent times that they will win right here.
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Since former President Barack Obama misplaced Texas by greater than 15 share factors in 2012, the margins have steadily declined. Former President Donald Trump received by 9 share factors in 2016, and 4 years later, received by lower than 6. That was the narrowest victory for a Republican presidential candidate in Texas since 1996.
“Texas is a purple state,” stated Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston. “But it’s not a ruby-red state.”