Vice President Kamala Harris will be campaigning in Texas on Friday to discuss the Democrats' pet issue of abortion. She'll also be there to support Democratic Rep. Colin Allred in Houston as he looks to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. The news was shared on Tuesday, the same day that Harris took a day off from the campaign trail and prepared for her "pretaped" interviews, making such a campaign stop even more curious.
A Tuesday report from The Texas Tribune highlighted how this is something of a "surprise visit" from the Democratic nominee with approximately two weeks to go before the election:
Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Houston on Friday with U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, the Dallas Democrat challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, for a rally that will mark the duo's first joint appearance on the campaign trail this election cycle.
The surprise visit, Harris' first trip to Texas since she officially clinched the Democratic presidential nomination more than two months ago, comes in the closing weeks of a campaign that has seen the vice president largely focus her efforts on other states seen as more competitive. Her appearance with Allred signals national Democrats’ renewed interest in the Texas Senate race, which Democrats see as one of their few viable options to pick up a seat in the upper chamber.
The location of Harris’ rally has yet to be announced. It is slated to take place at some point between 3 and 8 p.m. Friday, according to a Democratic National Committee event page.
In sharing such The Texas Tribune article as part of his Wednesday daily takes, Cygnal's Brent Buchanan highlighted how Democrats are obsessed with "Abortion, abortion, abortion."
"This appears to be a signal of what Kamala's closing message will be--abortion, abortion, abortion. Allred has no shot of winning in Texas, but Harris does have the cudgel of abortion to beat women to the polls, particularly the elusive non-college-educated female," Buchanan offered.
The visit was also referenced in Tuesday's Playbook PM edition, and was the subject of the Wednesday edition, "Dems play the blues in Texas."
Harris' visit is described as "the first time in decades that a Democratic presidential candidate has held a major event in Texas in the closing days of an election," with Playbook also noting how the Harris campaign has put out "a striking new ad" to do with the state abortion law. In other words, more fearmongering.
Texas is almost certainly not in play at the presidential level, and Cruz is also likely to win his race, even with close polls and excitement from Democrats. Harris has selectively prioritized campaigning in battleground states. While she'll be in Texas when she could be in one of the seven battlegrounds, she did skip out on the Al Smith dinner to benefit Catholic Charities last Thursday in order to campaign in Wisconsin.
Though he'll appear alongside Harris, Allred has been flippant with his support for the Democratic nominee before. While he was in Chicago for the DNC in August, Allred's support for Harris had been under the radar.
Like Harris, Allred has focused his campaign on abortion, and both have come out in support of nuking the filibuster in order to pass the Women's Health Protection Act (WHPA). While the bill's critics claim that such legislation would merely codify Roe v. Wade, in reality, it expands the decision by allowing for abortion in all 50 states up until birth for any reason and without legal limit.
Harris, Allred, and other Democrats have frequently turned to fearmongering about women who faced medical emergencies, not due to state pro-life laws as has been claimed, but medical malpractice. In Texas, there was some helpful clarification from the Texas Medical Board. Further, a mother's life is protected in all 50 states.
The Cruz campaign has been continuously tying Allred to Harris, which Cruz did throughout their debate from last Tuesday when it comes to his 100 percent record in line with Harris, President Joe Biden, and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), taking money from Medicare to go towards illegal immigrants and economic policies. Cruz also criticized Allred for supporting abortions even in the final months of pregnancy.
Tuesday also brought an ad from the Cruz campaign on "Two Liberals."
"Colin Allred is Kamala Harris. Throughout his entire time in office, he's supported her radical agenda. Whether it's men playing in girl's sports or swearing to tear down the border wall, he's been her puppet for the last four years. Voters deserve to know just how in lockstep he is with Kamala, and now they will," a Cruz campaign spokesperson said in a statement for Townhall.
Here’s Kamala Harris bragging about using taxpayer funds to provide sex-change surgeries for prisoners, including illegal aliens, violent offenders, and rapists.
— Team Cruz (@TeamTedCruz) October 22, 2024
COLIN ALLRED IS KAMALA HARRIS — Same radical agenda, same threat to Texas. pic.twitter.com/id4qhGMYiU
Forecasts still consider the race to favor Cruz, with a "Lean" or "Likely Republican" ranking. According to RealClearPolling, Cruz has an edge of +4.2 against Allred in this race.
Former and potentially future President Donald Trump, meanwhile, leads Harris in Texas by +6, also according to RCP. This is similar to his +5.8 win against Biden in 2020, though the polls had vastly underestimated Trump, as he was shown to only be up by +1.3.