The Labor Day holiday weekend starts the final sprint to the political finish line: Election Day, November 5. A closer look at the biggest prize in Texas this November: the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Ted Cruz and his challenger Colin Allred. Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett discusses her new, high-profile role as a National Co-Chair for the Harris-Walz campaign. McKinney Congressman Keith Self explains why he believes the policies on the economy and border security will lead to victories in Texas and Collin County for former President Donald Trump and Cruz. Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink covers these stories and more in the latest edition of Eye on Politics (original air date: September 1, 2024).
The Biggest Texas Contest: U.S. Senate Race
Recent polls show the change from President Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of their ticket has energized Democrats and is helping make the U.S. Senate race between Republican Ted Cruz and Democratic Congressman Colin Allred of Dallas more competitive.
At a recent rally in The Colony, Cruz told the crowd, “The Democrats have put a bullseye on the state of Texas.”
In Plano, Allred had a message during a rally for his supporters: “We’re going on offense. All right? Y’all ready?”
The Congressman hopes to score the equivalent of a political earthquake in Texas: capturing the Senate seat held for two terms by Senator Cruz.
Two recent polls in Texas have shown Cruz leading Allred by just two percentage points.
In 2018, Cruz beat then-Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke of El Paso by about two and a half percentage points.
At his rally in The Colony, Cruz referred to Allred’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. “That entire convention started chanting, ‘beat Ted Cruz.’ Let me tell you right now, you ain’t gonna.”
After Cruz’s rally, Jack asked him about his comment to supporters that he’s worried about complacency.
He said, “We’re going to win in November, but we’re going to win because we’re not going to be complacent. People are going to stand up and fight. I said from the beginning, this is a real race and they’re coming after Texas.”
Allred mentioned the tight polls at a recent Dallas event to motivate his supporters. “This is a margin that you can make happen and we can make happen.”
He is among the Texas Democrats who are pushing for reproductive or abortion rights and against the state’s near abortion ban. At his recent Dallas event, various Texas women, including Kate Cox of Dallas shared their emotional stories about their troubled pregnancies and having to leave the state so they could get an abortion.
Cox said, “I was shocked to find out I didn’t qualify for any kind of exception to the abortion laws. The state wanted me to continue a pregnancy long enough to wait for my baby to die and put my own health at risk.”
During his Dallas rally, Allred blamed Cruz for the state’s strict law and for the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v Wade. “Because you put the judges on the court who took this right away, if you helped elect the legislators who passed these laws on the state level because you called for these laws to be passed, you celebrated when they were passed.”
In a recent interview with reporters Cruz said, “I agree with the Supreme Court of the United States that it ought to be the voters, it ought to be the people of Texas, the state legislature in Austin and Governor making the decision about what the rules should be. I’m pro life, I want to see every life protected but I also respect the Democratic process.”
Cruz said it’s Allred who’s radical on this issue because he believes there shouldn’t be any limits on abortion.
But Allred has said he wants to codify Roe v Wade into federal law.
For his part, Cruz spends much of his time blasting the economic records of President Biden, Vice President Harris and Democrats.
“Out of control spending, out of control inflation through the roof, cost of food, cost of electricity, cost of healthcare. My top priority is jobs-jobs-jobs and it ain’t complicated if you want lots of jobs, you want an environment where small businesses can grow and prosper.”
Allred regularly blasts Cruz for not being bipartisan.
“Who every chance he gets, when it’s a bipartisan bill to help us do something whether it’s the infrastructure of our state, bring $35 billion to our state over five years, that Mitch McConnel is helping us push through, Ted Cruz opposes it. Whether it’s the Chips and Sciences Act to bring high-tech manufacturing back to our state, which John Cornyn to his credit helped us push through, and I voted for, Ted Cruz votes against it.”
When it comes to border security, Cruz praises Trump’s policies and record after record numbers of migrants crossed the southern border illegally during the Biden-Harris administration. “Four years ago, when Donald Trump was in the White House, I worked hand in hand with him to secure the border and we achieved the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years.”
The incumbent Senator points to Allred’s record of voting against Trump’s border wall and legislation that would deport a migrant if they assaulted a law enforcement officer.
Allred has supported bills to grant permanent resident status for “Dreamers” who were illegally brought to the U.S. at a young age by their parents.
At his Dallas rally, the Congressman referred to Cruz’s opposition to a bipartisan border security bill negotiated in the Senate, that ultimately died after Trump criticized it. “If you refuse to help us secure the border because you want to use it as a problem to run on instead of something to fix, then you should lose your job.”
We have requested one-on-one interviews with both candidates and hope to do them in the next few weeks.
Watch Jack’s story on the Senate race:
High Profile Role:
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, has a new high profile assignment after the Democratic National Convention.
She is a new National Co-Chair for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz’s campaign.
Crockett told Jack she’s racking up a lot of miles on their behalf.
Watch Jack’s interview with Congresswoman Crockett:
One On One with Congressman Keith Self:
Collin County continues to be one of the state’s largest Republican counties.
Congressman Keith Self, R-McKinney, told Jack that he believes former President Trump and Senator Cruz will win there again because their policies are better than the Democrats.
Watch Jack’s interview with Congressman Self:
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