Ted Cruz Gets Bad News on Super Tuesday

Ted Cruz’s confirmed Democratic opponent for his Texas Senate seat in November may present a serious challenge to the Republican.

Congressman Colin Allred easily won the Democratic primary for Texas Senate seat on Tuesday, beating his nearest challenger, Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, by more than 40 points (59 to 17 percent).

While Cruz, who easily won his party’s primary on Tuesday, is considered the favorite to win reelection to the Senate in November’s election, some polls have suggested that Allred will put up a serious fight as at least two surveys suggest the candidates are neck-and-neck.

Allred’s Senate campaign is also outraising Cruz, with the Democrat receiving millions more that the Republican incumbent in the previous two quarters. The current indications suggest the Texas Senate election could be yet another hotly contested race as it was in 2018, when Cruz beat former Democratic Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke by just over 2.6 points.

A recent University of Texas at Tyler (UTT) survey found that Cruz and Allred were tied on 41 percent in what was then a hypothetical face-off for the Senate seat.

In February, a National Public Affairs poll of likely voters also showed the Republican and Allred were tied at 44 percent. Soon after the poll was published, Cruz told Fox News that the Democrats have made flipping his Senate seat their “number one target” in the run-up to November’s elections.

In his victory speech on Tuesday night, Allred suggested that “Cruz has had 12 years of pitting us against each other” and change is now needed in Texas.

“It’s time we had a senator who will bring us together, I’ll be that senator,” Allred said. “We’ve had enough of me guys. We is much more powerful than me. We can do this together.”

Cruz’s office has been contacted for comment via email.

Some other polls and forecasts suggest Cruz, who enjoys the incumbent’s advantage, has a clear edge in the race. Forecasters Race to the White House give Cruz a near 71 percent chance of winning November’s election, with Allred given a 29 percent chance.

In February, a Texas Politics Project poll showed Cruz ahead of Allred by 14 points (46 to 32 percent), with 13 percent saying they haven’t thought enough yet about who they could vote for.

Allred also faces the daunting prospect of trying to be the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the red state since 1988.

The winner of the Texas Senate race could have major implications about who goes on to control the upper chamber next year.

Currently, the Democrats hold a 51-49 seat majority in the Senate, including three Independents who caucus with them, after the GOP failed to achieve a “red wave” as predicted in the 2022 midterms.