By Matthew Choi and Jasper Scherer, The Texas Tribune
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz declared victory over U.S. Rep. Colin Allred on Tuesday, defying another spirited and well-funded effort to turn Texas blue and preserving his status as a leading conservative voice in American politics.
Cruz earned 56 percent of the statewide vote and 54 percent of the ballots in Denton County.
“The results tonight, this decisive victory, should shake the Democrat establishment to its core,” he said in a speech to supporters at his campaign watch party in downtown Houston.
After his close scare against then-U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke in 2018, Cruz vowed to enter this election cycle better prepared and more aggressive, determined to avoid the ignominious fate of becoming the first Texas Republican to lose statewide since 1994.
Cruz’s victory once again dashes Democrats’ dream of breaking their decades-long drought in Texas statewide elections. But it was not without a serious challenge: Both candidates raised north of $80 million and attracted millions more from outside groups eager to sway a contest that carried potential to decide control of the U.S. Senate.
In his victory speech, Cruz offered a facetious word of thanks to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, for spending millions trying to flip Texas.
“I want to say, thank you, Chuck,” Cruz said. “And I hope we win a few more Senate seats tonight because you wasted so much money in Texas.”
Allred, a former NFL linebacker and civil rights lawyer from Dallas, repeatedly broke fundraising records in his campaign, raising more than $80 million by mid-October. He blanketed the state with ads positioning himself as a more bipartisan alternative to Cruz.
In the end, Allred couldn’t overcome Vice President Kamala Harris’ deficit to Republican nominee Donald Trump atop the ballot in Texas. Though Allred kept his distance from his party’s presidential nominee, Cruz tied the two together at seemingly every turn, telling audiences that “Colin Allred is Kamala Harris.”
Onstage Tuesday, Cruz congratulated Allred on a “hard-fought campaign” and added, “To all those who didn’t support me, you have my word that I will fight for you, for your jobs, for your safety and for your constitutional rights.”
Fueling Cruz’s win was his standing as one of the most popular Republicans among conservative voters in a state where GOP voters still outnumber Democrats. He ran on a message of experience, having racked up a legislative record after 12 years in the Senate and as the top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee.
Meanwhile, Allred gave up a promising career in the U.S. House to run for Senate. His political future is now unclear.
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