Republican Sen. Ted Cruz will win a third term in Congress by defeating Democratic Rep. Colin Allred in the 2024 election, CBS News projects.
The Texas Senate race has been one of the most closely watched races in the nation, as it could play a major role in whether Republicans or Democrats have control of Congress after the election. Democrats nationally are defending twice as many Senate seats as Republicans and are vying to hold a narrow majority in the Senate.
Texas hasn't had a Democratic senator since 1993, but Cruz's competitor, Allred, ran a competitive and well-financed campaign in what polling indicated was a tight race. Still, Cruz had been ahead in polls leading up to the election.
"Texans have voted to keep Texas, Texas," the Republican Party of Texas said in its official statement. "Senator Ted Cruz will return to DC for a third term to represent Texas values. The Republican Party of Texas is proud to fight alongside the grassroots, volunteers, and donors in support of Ted Cruz. Together we will continue to defend Texas, and save America!"
Cruz, 53, was first elected to the Senate in 2012 and was a presidential candidate in 2016. He narrowly won reelection in 2018 against Democrat Beto O'Rourke and has campaigned to portray Allred as "too liberal for Texas."
Allred, 41, a former NFL linebacker, was elected to the House in 2018. He has focused on abortion rights as a key issue in his campaign, blaming Cruz for the state's strict abortion laws because he supported Republican state lawmakers who approved them and also approved of the three Supreme Court Justices appointed by then President Donald Trump.
In addition to abortion, a key campaign issue that was discussed in the only debate between the candidates, in mid-October, was border security. Allred criticized Cruz for opposing a bipartisan border security bill, while Cruz claimed Allred supports "open borders" and repeatedly voted against new border wall construction. They also clashed over transgender issues.
Allred has said Cruz is trying to distract voters from his own record. From the beginning of his campaign, Allred has continued to remind voters – during campaign events and TV ads – about a trip Cruz took to Cancun, Mexico, with his family during a winter storm in February 2021. The state says 246 people died due to the storm, which left millions of Texans without power. Cruz apologized at the time and returned the next day.
Polls have indicated a competitive race, with Cruz leading Allred by about 4.1 percentage points, according to the latest Real Clear Politics average. The Cook Political Report recently moved the race from "Likely Republican" to "Lean R," which means the race was considered competitive, but one party had an advantage.
Allred outperformed Cruz in fundraising, raising nearly $68.8 million from April 1 last year through Sept. 30 of this year. Cruz raised more than $43.3 million between Jan. 1 last year through Sept. 30 this year, according to the FEC.
S.E. Jenkins is a digital content producer for CBS Texas. She has also been a Digital Content Producer in Tallahassee and Myrtle Beach. S.E. graduated with journalism degrees from Texas State University, Aarhus Universitet and City, University of London.
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