DALLAS – Election day is three weeks away and on Tuesday night, there were fiery exchanges in the one and only Texas Senate debate between Sen. Ted Cruz and Congressman Colin Allred. They debated abortion, transgender sports and border security.
From start to finish in the hourlong debate, Cruz sought to link Allred to Vice President Kamala Harris at nearly every opportunity and painted the three-term Dallas congressman as out of step in a state where voters have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office in 30 years.
Allred, who would become Texas’ first Black senator if elected, hammered Cruz over the state’s abortion ban which is one of the most restrictive in the nation and does not allow exceptions in cases of rape or incest. The issue is central to Allred’s underdog campaign and his supporters include Texas women who had serious pregnancy complications after the state’s ban took effect.
“All of a sudden, the defender of women and girls is going to be Senator Cruz, who thinks it’s perfectly reasonable that if a girl is raped by a relative of hers, a victim of incest, that she should be forced to carry that child to term and give birth to it,” Allred said Tuesday night. “You think that’s perfectly reasonable but now you’re going to set yourself up as a protector of women and girls. It’s laughable. And listen, he’s trying to distract you.”
Pressed on whether he supports Texas’ law, Cruz said the specifics of abortion law have been and should be decided by the Texas Legislature.
“I don’t serve in the state Legislature. I’m not the governor,” he said.
Cruz later blasted Allred over his support of transgender rights and immigration policies of President Biden and Harris, accusing him of shifting his views on border security from the positions he took when he was first elected to Congress in 2018.
“You know what he argued for? Military bases should have drag shows and should be able to fly a transgender flag above it,” said Cruz. “Look, call me old-fashioned but the only flag that should fly above our military bases is the American flag … There was a very simple bill. It was narrowly defined. It was protecting women in girls’ sports. He voted no. The only issue on that bill was whether biological boys should compete against our daughters. That’s not fair. Congressman Allred was an NFL linebacker. It’s not fair for men to compete against women. “
“When Ted Cruz starts talking about team sports, you gotta watch out because the only position he played was left out,” Allred said. “I’m not trying to be mean Senator, but you should sit this one out. Listen, I don’t support boys playing girls’ sports. I don’t … What I think is folks shouldn’t be discriminated against.”
The last time Cruz was on the ballot in 2018, he only narrowly won reelection over challenger Beto O’Rourke.
The debate offered Allred a chance to boost his name identification to a broad Texas audience. Allred has made protecting abortion rights a centerpiece of his campaign and has been sharply critical of the state’s abortion ban. The issue has been a winning one for Democrats, even in red states like Kentucky and Kansas, ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to strip away constitutional protections for abortion.
“I support the protections and the restrictions under Roe. But Senator Cruz just called himself Pro-Life. You’re not. You’re not Pro-Life. It’s not Pro-Life to deny women care so long that they can’t have children anymore,” Allred said. “It’s not Pro-Life to force a victim of rape to carry their rapist’s baby.”
“Congressman Allred has voted to tell you, a mother at home, you have no right to know if your daughter is getting an abortion,” Cruz said. “That’s an extreme position. And the overwhelming majority of Texans do not agree with Congressman Allred’s extreme position against parental rights, against the rights of a mom and dad to be with their daughter in a challenging and horrific time.”
Despite Texas’ reputation as a deep-red state and the Democrats’ 30-year statewide drought, the party has grown increasingly optimistic. In 2020, former President Donald Trump won the state by less than 6 percentage points, the narrowest margin of victory for a Republican presidential candidate in Texas since 1996.
Cruz, who quickly made a name for himself in the Senate as an uncompromising conservative and ran for president in 2016, has refashioned his campaign to focus on his legislative record. He portrays his opponent as too liberal. Allred has meanwhile sought to flash moderate credentials and has the endorsement of former Republican U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney.
The two candidates alone have raised close to $100 million, according to the most recent reports from the Federal Election Commission. Tens of millions more dollars have been spent by outside groups, making it one of the most expensive races in the country.
Cruz has urged Republicans to take Texas seriously amid signs that he is in a competitive race. A poll released Tuesday morning by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston shows Cruz leading Allred by 4 percentage points, within the margin of error.
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