Colin Allred Gets Multimillion Dollar Boost in Fight Against Ted Cruz

Colin Allred, the Democrat challenging Ted Cruz’s Senate seat in Texas, has received a multimillion dollar investment from Senate Democrats.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said on Thursday that it was spending millions on television ads for the Texas and Florida Senate races.

“Senate Democrats are expanding the map and going on offense,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Gary Peters said in the statement.

“All cycle long the DSCC has been preparing to take advantage of Sens. Cruz and Scott’s damaged standings in their states—and now our efforts in Texas and Florida are accelerating. Democrats have strong candidates running effective campaigns in both states, and as we escalate our communications against Sens. Cruz and Scott we will crystallize the case against them.”

The DSCC did not specify exactly how much money was being invested into ads in each state.

The late-cycle investment shows that the Democrats are taking the surprisingly tight race in Texas seriously.

Both the Texas and Florida Senate seats have been targets for the party to flip as it seeks to hold on to its narrow majority.

Polling from the state in September has shown Cruz ahead by between two to five points, per polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight. One recent Morning Consult poll showed Allred being one point ahead for the first time.

Cruz has held the Senate seat in solidly Republican Texas since 2013, and is now running for a third term.

He last won the seat in 2018 by a margin of just 2.6 percent against Democrat Beto O’Rourke, which was at the time the closest Senate race in Texas in decades.

Newsweek reached out to Allred and Cruz’s offices via email outside of regular working hours.

In a post on X, Allred shared an article about the new investment, and wrote: “Ted Cruz was already the most vulnerable Republican Senator, and now we’re really going to make him sweat. These additional resources will help us make him a full time podcaster.”

Allred referenced Cruz’s podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz, which has been the subject of an ethics debate due to concerns that it violates rules barring lobbyists from giving gifts to senators.

“Colin Allred has earned broad support from Texans, and our campaign has clear momentum,” Allred’s campaign manager Paige Hutchinson said in a statement, per The Texas Tribune.

“Ted Cruz is weaker and more vulnerable than ever because of his failure to secure the border, his extreme abortion ban that has put women in danger, his efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare and his record of only looking out for himself. “