AUSTIN, Texas — It's official: Congressman Colin Allred is Texas Democrats’ nominee for U.S. Senate.
Allred defeated eight candidates on Super Tuesday to secure the nomination. He will now face U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in November.
“Ted Cruz has had 12 years of pitting us against each other. It’s time we had a senator who will bring us together. I’ll be that senator," Allred said in his victory speech. "We’ve had enough of 'me' guys. 'We' is much more powerful than 'me.' We can do this together."
At the start of Election Day, Allred had a strong lead over the other Democratic candidates. He has raised the most money and consistently polled the highest among them.
Allred is a fourth-generation Texan, born and raised in Dallas. He played football for Baylor University before several years in the NFL, playing for the Tennessee Titans. After a career-ending injury, he became a civil rights attorney and eventually worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development before running for and getting elected to Congress to represent Dallas in 2018. He won reelection in 2020 and won again in 2022.
Allred first announced he would be running for U.S. Senate in May 2023.
On his campaign website, he states that he has fought to keep the U.S.-Mexico border secure and worked to protect Dreamers. He has been vocal about his belief that the U.S. needs to ensure due process under the law when handling immigration cases and says he has focused on “real solutions to this complicated problem.”
"Our border communities are not political backdrops. They're places where real folks live, and they need us to act. And when we have inaction at the federal level, it's our border communities that feel the brunt of that," Allred said in a late-January debate with two other Democratic candidates.
Allred strongly opposes the overturning of Roe v. Wade and supports making its protections law.
Allred has also said he supports the right for “responsible, law-abiding Texans” to own guns, but he believes the U.S. can also take “common-sense steps to protect our kids and save lives.” Allred voted in support of the “Safer Communities Act” in the wake of the Uvalde mass shooting, which implemented reforms like expanding background checks, closing the “boyfriend loophole” and expanding mental health services.
After winning the Republican primary with 88% of the vote, Cruz released a statement that read in part, "I am proud to be the GOP's decisive nominee for U.S. Senate ... Never before has it been more important to unify and fight against the radical left who threaten to change what makes this state great. I look forward to continuing to meet Texans in every corner of the state as we work to ensure that we keep Texas, Texas."
If Allred defeats Cruz in November, he will become the first Black U.S. senator from Texas. In the most recent poll from the Texas Politics Project, Allred trailed Cruz in a potential matchup, 32% to 46%.
For the latest election results, head to KVUE.com/elections. For more election coverage, visit KVUE.com/VoteTexas.