Colin Allred (Emil Lippe/Getty Images), Ted Cruz (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Texas Rep. Colin Allred (D.) lost his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R.), marking yet another failure for the Democratic Party in its struggle to flip the Senate seat in the historically conservative state.
Cruz led Allred, who represents Texas's 32nd Congressional District, by 9 points with 71 percent of the vote reported when NBC News called the race just before 10:15 p.m. Tuesday. Without many options on the Senate map, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) targeted Texas as one of his few offensive opportunities.
A Democrat hasn't represented Texas in the U.S. Senate since 1993, but the party was hopeful that demographic shifts in its favor and the $30 million that Allred raised in the third quarter—outpacing his opponent—would have been enough to prevent Cruz from securing a third term.
Allred billed himself as a moderate Democrat during his campaign, but he voted in line with President Joe Biden 100 percent of the time before launching his Senate bid. A series of Washington Free Beacon reports uncovered Allred's ties to several radical positions as well.
For instance, Allred claimed to be a "steadfast supporter" of Israel, but his campaign raked in more than $260,000 through the group J Street, which frequently criticizes Israel for defending itself against Palestinian terrorism. The group also set up a dedicated donation page for Allred and attacked Cruz's pro-Israel policies. Meanwhile, in the House, Allred voted twice against measures urging the U.S. government to condemn boycotts of Israel.
In September, Allred recruited an Austin city councilman who defended anti-Israel students and accused the Jewish state of apartheid to lead a campaign initiative targeting Asian and Pacific Islander voters. The same month, the Free Beacon reported that Allred embraced a pastor who similarly accused Israel of apartheid—one day after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack—and praised anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan as a "wonderful man."
Allred also touted an endorsement from a George Soros-backed group that supports defunding the police. The nonprofit, Reproductive Freedom for All, has repeatedly called for dismantling the "systems of oppression that are still so entrenched in society" and stressed the need to "divest from law enforcement in Black and brown communities."
In an effort to cast himself as tough on the border and immigration, Allred featured his wife in campaign ads. Four years ago, however, she sued to secure the release of dozens of criminal illegal immigrants held at federal facilities in California, including one who was charged with assaulting and threatening to kill his girlfriend, the Free Beacon reported.
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