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Ted Cruz's Chances at Reelection Are Looking Even Better After That Debate Against Colin Allred

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  October 20, 2024 2:30 PM

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Rep. Colin Allred recently met for a debate in the U.S. Senate race out of Texas. While the race is seen as one of Democrats' top targets in a challenging cycle for the party, Cruz gave a strong performance, with Bonchie at our sister site of RedState declaring, "Ted Cruz Leaves Colin Allred's Campaign in Shambles With Masterful Debate Performance." Susie Moore's "Weekly Briefing" also noted how "Cruz Rumbles."

Allred seemed rather nervous and awkward. He also stuck to repetitive talking points. As Bonchie noted, "Allred wasn't ready for primetime, contradicting himself at multiple points and walking right into numerous receipt-laden traps set by Cruz."

Perhaps the worst part of the night for Allred was to do with boys and men being allowed to participate in girls' and women's sports. 

When a moderator directly asked Allred where he stood on "transgender athletes in women's sports," the congressman chuckled and offered he wanted to be "very clear about what's happening in this campaign. He then went for a cringeworthy pun. 

"You don't have to be a former NFL linebacker to recognize a 'Hail Mary' when you see one," Allred said about ads highlighting his own radical record, statements, and letters he's signed onto. "This is a desperate attempt by Sen. Cruz to distract you because he can't defend his own record." Cruz shook his head in response. "Listen, I'm a dad, I'm a Christian, of course I don't support these ridiculous things that he's talking about."

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Allred then pivoted by trying to bring up his pet issue of abortion, which he spent a significant portion of his allotted time discussing. In fact, the congressman seemed focus on discussing any and every other issue. "When I'm your senator, I'll keep focused on the issues that matter to you: I'll lower your costs, on securing the border, on restoring a woman's right to choose. That's what I'll be focused on." 

Cruz called it "striking" how "once again, in that answer, [Allred] said not a word about his own record." He also likened Allred to Vice President Kamala Harris' frequent answers of, "'look, I was born in the middle class.' It's some lines that sound nice that ignore his record," the senator pointed out.

Reminding viewers to go to allredfacts.com, Cruz used his time to discuss Allred's actual record. Sure enough, the very first issue is on "BOYS IN GIRLS SPORTS."

As the senator brought up:

Cruz: ...Four times, he has come out for men playing in women's sports and boys playing in girl's sports. He is a co-sponsor and he voted for a law called the Equality Act. The Equality Act mandated that boys be able to go into girl's bathrooms, locker rooms, and their changing rooms. 

ALLRED: That's not true, that's not true, that's not true. 

CRUZ: He voted for it. That is his record. Number two, there was a bill, it was a very simple bill, it was narrowly defined. It was protecting women and girl's 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 is not fair for a man to compete against women.

The third time, he signed onto something called the Transgender Bill of Rights. The Transgender Bill of Rights explicitly, and he cosponsored it, mandated that boys compete against girls in sports. And just two weeks ago, Congressman Allred joined a hundred radical Democrats in demanding that our military allow drag shows on military bases, pay for soldiers to have sex changes using taxpayer money, and pay for children to be sterilized and have sex changes on military bases. Again, that's extreme. That's not Texas, but that's his voting record. 

Allred, meanwhile, awkwardly tried to deny Cruz's charges under his breath. 

We've covered how Allred responded to ads from Cruz, with an ad of his own that came off as a desperate attempt to hide from his own record. It turns out that the radical left isn't too thrilled with Allred for such a move. 

Just as they went after him recently for his political ad, the Advocate came against both Cruz and Allred this time, lamenting how the Democratic congressman "repeated the same framing" as Cruz during the debate. 

Allred talking about abortion when asked a question about girls' and women's sports wasn't the only time that the hot button issue came up. Far from it. It was the very first question asked during the debate. 

This was where Cruz hit Allred over his record as well. While it's common for pro-abortion Democrats to claim that legislation they're pushing, the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA), would merely codify Roe v. Wade, it would actually expand the decision. Abortion would be legal in all 50 states, for any reason, without limit. Allred is even in favor of nuking the filibuster in order to get such legislation passed. 

Cruz also reminded how since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, abortion is seen as an issue for the states to decide, and he won't interfere with the role of Texas state legislators.

Allred meanwhile couldn't answer if he supports abortion in the eighth and ninth month of pregnancy.

Allred also came off as unprepared on the border crisis and immigration.

Like so many other Democrats have done, Allred tried to claim that the bad border bill that was brought up and failed earlier this year was the strongest there is. Cruz hit him from all over, from bringing up how secure the border was during the Trump administration, as well as Allred's own record to vote against any serious measure. 

And, as Cruz also brought up, as have other Republicans, the Biden-Harris administration doesn't need a new bill to use their authority to close the border. 

Further, the House already passed the strongest border bill, HR 2-the Secure the Border Act, in May of last year, without Allred's vote. Cruz is a sponsor of the Senate version, though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) prefers to let such a bill languish in favor of bringing up one that keeps failing. 

Allred was all too happy for the topic of January 6 to come up. The congressman even referred to Cruz as a "threat to democracy." He took it in stride, though, and used the charge to remind how Allred voted against the SAVE Act, which ensures only citizens are registering to vote.

Still another issue that came up was support for Israel. While Allred communicated his support for our ally in the Middle East, Cruz once more came armed with receipts. The congressman previously wrote a letter asking that the Biden-Harris administration send money to Gaza, despite how it would go to Hamas. He's also, as we've covered at length, spoken glowingly of a particularly anti-Israel imam. 

Cruz, on the other hand, reminded how pro-Israel he is, and how he's stood against antisemites, making clear he doesn't want their votes, though such people are happy to support Allred and Harris.

Allred made reference to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce a couple of times, at one point even explaining to viewers what it is that they do. 

However, as Cruz reminded, the Chamber of Commerce has actually endorsed Cruz. 

Forecasters consider the race to be "Lean" or "Likely Republican," with Decision Desk HQ giving Cruz a 72 percent chance of winning reelection. 

Cruz indeed has an advantage in the polls, with some polls showing it to be a closer race than other polls do. However, a University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll showed Cruz up by a comfortable +7. The poll surveyed 1,200 registered Texans from October 2-10, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.97 percentage points.