Analyzing Texas early voter turnout and competitive races, Senate race between Cruz and Allred
Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Colin Allred are making their final push for votes in the competitive Texas Senate race. Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink discusses this contest and the other key races to watch on Election Night. Also, evaluating the early voter turnout in the Lone Star State to see how it compares to 2020. The Texas State of Mind series continues, asking how voters across the state feel about this election. Jack covers these stories in the latest episode of Eye On Politics. (original air date: November 3, 2024.)
Final push for votes
Both Republican incumbent Senator Ted Cruz and Democratic Congressman Colin Allred are spending a lot of time campaigning in North Texas in the final days before Election Day. Allred campaigned in Oak Cliff Saturday and in Dallas Thursday, where he met with small business owners along with former elected officials who are backing him. They include former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, a Republican and two former Dallas Mayors, Ron Kirk and Mike Rawlings, both Democrats. The business owners along with Rawlings, Kirk, and Whitley praised Allred for working across the political aisle. They also expressed concerns about the state's near abortion ban and their beliefs that it's having a negative impact on businesses that are trying to attract talent to move to Texas. Jack asked Congressman Allred how this concern fits into his closing argument to voters.
"Well listen, if you want to talk about the economy, this is part of the economy," said Allred.
"To me, for us to thrive, we have to have certain conditions in place. One of those is fundamental freedoms. In this case, we've had avot fundamental freedom taken away. We're seeing the consequences, and they are individual consequences, but they're also collective. For us as Texans, we have to talk how this election has so much riding on it, including our economic future whether or not it can be limited by the extremism that Ted Cruz has pushed. He is uniquely responsible for this abortion ban. He also does not support the investments that we have made in our state that have been good for our economy. Much of what we are doing in Texas is in spite of him. We don't have to have a Senator that you're overcoming to get things done. You can have one who is a part of you getting things done."
Senator Cruz made a number of campaign appearances in North Texas as well as part of his 53-stop bus tour across the state. He spoke in Weatherford Thursday night, in Plano and Fort Worth Friday, and will hold a rally in Denton County Monday afternoon. Cruz also attended an event held by former President Donald Trump in Austin more than one week ago. Jack asked him about Allred's appearance with Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston and how he gave Jack his closing argument to voters.
"When I saw the announcement, that Colin Allred is going to appear with Kamala Harris in Houston today, they are embracing and running as one ticket. I actually retweeted on X I'm Ted Cruz and I approved this message," said Cruz.
"You want the very simple contrast, you got the simple contrast. If you like Kamala Harris' open borders, if you like Kamala Harris' inflation, if you like Kamala Harris letting prisoners out of jail and the crime that comes with it, then Colin Allred is your man because Colin Allred is Kamala Harris. On the other hand, if you liked the peace and prosperity we had when Donald Trump was president, a Republican Senate, a Republican House, then I would ask for your vote because that's the record we produced before. We did it before and we're going to do it again. I couldn't ask for a better summation of this campaign than Allred and Harris arm in arm at the same time that President Trump and I are standing together. That's the clear choice Texans have, that's the clear choice Americans have."
Jack also spoke about the Senate race with CBS News Texas' panel of experts, former State Representative Lorraine Birabil, D-Dallas, and former Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, R-Texas, who also once served as Texas Education Agency Commissioner.
Watch Jack's full conversation on the Senate race with Lorraine Birabil and Michael Williams here:
Tracking the battleground states
Days before the election, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are in a fight to the political finish, especially in the seven battleground states which will decide the winner.
Watch the battleground tracker:
Other key races in North Texas
One of the most talked about issues on the ballot this fall is in Dallas, where there are 18 propositions that would change the city charter. Among them are three propositions, S, T and U, part of the Dallas HERO Initiative, considered the most controversial.
Proposition S would change the city charter to allow a Dallas resident to file a lawsuit against the city to require city officials to comply with the city charter and ordinances. Proposition T would allow a survey of residents to determine whether the City Manager could be fired or receive a bonus. Proposition U would require the city to increase the number of police officers to four thousand and maintain that among other things.
After election day, there will also be three new members of Congress from North Texas who will be sworn-in this January. In the 12th Congressional District, Republican Craig Goldman, a State Representative, and Democrat Trey Hunt, are vying for the seat being vacated by longtime Republican Congresswoman Kay Granger, who also served as Fort Worth Mayor. This district includes Tarrant and Parker counties.
In the 26th Congressional District Republican Brandon Gill and Democrat Ernest Lineberger the 3rd are competing for the seat being vacated by longtime Republican Michael Burgess.
In the 32nd Congressional District in Dallas and a small part of Collin and Denton counties, Democrat Julie Johnson, a State Representative and Republican Darrell Day, a former city of Arlington Councilman are campaigning for the seat now held by Congressman Colin Allred who is running for U.S. Senate. This district includes parts of Denton County and surrounding counties.
There are also three Texas House seats we are watching here in North Texas.
In Plano, House District 70, where Governor Greg Abbott predicted Republican Steve Kinard will flip this seat away from the incumbent, Democrat Mihaela Plesa. She is being backed by Congressman Allred and former Congressman Beto O'Rourke.
House District 108 in the Park Cities and Dallas, where Democrat Elizabeth Ginsberg is running for a second time and trying to unseat Republican incumbent Morgan Meyer. Governor Abbott recently campaigned for Meyer in Dallas.
The Governor also campaigned with Republican Representative Angie Button last week in her effort to be re-elected. Button is facing Democrat Averie Bishop, a former Miss Texas, in the 112th House District.
Evaluating early voter turnout
Early voter turnout in Texas is not as high as it was in 2020, during the pandemic, when more people were able to vote by mail. On Friday before the election, Jack spoke with Ross Hunt, a pollster and founder of Hunt Research in Dallas about the early voter turnout through the second to last day, October 31.
Watch Jack's full interview with Ross Hunt: