Collin Allred, Ted Cruz Sen. race heats up
Colin Allred and Ted Cruz talk about key campaign issues as the Senate race nears its final stages.
As we enter the final stretch before the 2024 election, the centerpiece of Texas’s race is a U.S. Senate showdown between Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Collin Allred.
As both sides enter the final stages, FOX 26’s Greg Grugan spoke with Cruz and FOX 4’s Steven Dial interviewed Collin Allred about the issues facing Texas.
Ted Cruz
HOUSTON, TX – AUGUST 6: Senator Ted Cruz speaks to supporters and law enforcement leaders as he hosts a Law Enforcement and Public Safety Rally at Kings Beerhouse in Houston on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
About Allred
Ted Cruz: “My record and Colin Allred’s record couldn’t be more different. I’ve been in the United States Senate for 12 years, leading the fight for jobs for 30 million Texans, leading the fight for freedom and security. Colin Allred’s record is far left. His first four years in the House of Representatives, he voted 100% with Nancy Pelosi. Literally never deviated from that. He voted for open borders time and time again, he voted for trillions of dollars in new spending and new taxes time and time again, he voted against law enforcement time and time again, he voted against defunding the police, he voted against oil, gas and energy time and time again.”
Border Security
Cruz: “Colin Allred voted against the border wall, not once, not twice, but three times. In fact, he said about the border wall, ‘If you think border security is important, Colin Allred calls you a racist. He calls the border wall ‘that racist border wall,’ and he has vowed to tear down that racist border wall. Now, Greg, you know what Colin Allred is doing right now. He’s spending millions of dollars to run TV ads with him in front of ‘that racist border wall.'”
Cruz said a border bill on the table earlier this year would not have been in the best interest of Texans.
Cruz: “This bill normalizes 5,000 illegal immigrants a day. That means 1.8 million illegal immigrants every year will become illegal immigrants, permanently, forever.”
Oil and Gas
Cruz: “We’re an energy powerhouse, Texas is the energy powerhouse in the United States. Since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office, they’ve waged a war on oil, gas and energy in Texas. Colin Allred has voted against oil and gas jobs in Texas over and over again.”
Colin Allred
AUSTIN, TX – AUGUST 29: Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Collin Allred of Texas speaks to constituents during a roundtable discussion on 2024 in Austin, Texas. Rep. Allred gathered with industry leaders, labor and local business leaders.
On Ted Cruz’s border attack
Allred: “He’s helped block Senator Ted Cruz’s efforts to help with border security his entire time as a U.S. senator. He’s blocked every bipartisan effort for immigration reform and border security. In 2013, when President Barack Obama and eight others had a bipartisan effort to reform our entire immigration system and that package included billions of dollars for border security, he blocked it. Earlier this year, $20 billion was specifically earmarked for border security, and he blocked it, even though no state would have benefited more than Texas.”
Jocelyn Nangaray’s mother and Ted Cruz’s ad
Cruz recently began running ads featuring the mother of Jocelyn Nungarei, a 12-year-old girl who was unlawfully raped and murdered by two men in the country.
Read more: 12-year-old Jocelyn Nangaray’s mother appears in Ted Cruz ad
Allred: “I’m a parent. I have a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old. Personally, all I want is for us to try and act when we have a tragedy and we lose one of our children. I’m angry at the way Ted Cruz has acted. He’s been a part of preventing this problem from being solved, and now he’s using a tragedy for political gain. I can’t stress this enough, but he’s had all this time to work on this problem. Where is Cruz’s bill? It’s been over 10 years since he’s been a United States Senator, where is Cruz’s bill? Why is he not on board with border security efforts? Why does every time there’s an effort, he always pulls it back? And you say it’s not enough? No, it’s not enough. We have to act. When we have a crisis, we have to respond.”
The rigor of opinion polls
Polls in recent weeks have shown Allred closing the gap on Cruz to varying degrees.
Allred’s approval ratings have risen since Kamala Harris rose to the top of the list of candidates.
Allred: “This is a very different race because the stakes are very different for Texas. So as important as that energy is, there’s a different decision Texans have to make, and that’s who is best positioned to be their senator for the next six years. We know that Ted Cruz’s failed, divisive and extreme track record is not what most people want, and that’s why he’s in the position he is in.”
You can catch “Texas: The Issue Is” on your TV every Sunday night or anytime on FOX LOCAL.
