Ted Cruz, Colin Allred Senate race enters home stretch | Texas: The Issue Is
We are now in the home stretch for the 2024 election and the marquee race in Texas is the US Senate showdown between Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Colin Allred.
As both campaigns careen into the stretch run, FOX 26's Greg Groogan sat down with Cruz and FOX 4's Steven Dial interviewed Colin Allred about the issues facing Texans.
Ted Cruz
HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 6: Senator Ted Cruz speaks to supporters as he hosted a law enforcement and public safety rally with law enforcement leaders at King's Bierhaus on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Houston. (Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via Getty Im
On Allred
Ted Cruz: "My record and Colin Allred's record could not be more different. I have spent 12 years leading the fight for jobs in the US Senate for 30 million Texans, leading the fight for freedom and leading the fight for security. Colin Allred's record has been hard left. His first four years in the House he voted 100% with Nancy Pelosi. Literally, did not deviate on a single vote. He's voted repeatedly for open borders, he's voted repeatedly for trillions in new spending, for new taxes. He voted repeatedly against law enforcement, for defunding the police and he voted repeatedly against oil and gas and energy."
Border Security
Cruz: "Colin Allred has voted against our border wall not once, not twice, three separate times. And, in fact, here's what he's says about the border wall: if you think securing the border is important, Colin Allred says that you're a racist. He calls the border wall 'that racist border wall' and he has pledged to personally tear down that racist border wall. Now Greg, you know what Colin Allred is doing right now. He's spending millions of dollars running TV ads with him in front of 'that racist border wall.'"
Cruz says a border bill that was on the table earlier this year would not have been what's best for Texans.
Cruz: "This bill normalized 5,000 illegal immigrants a day. That's 1.8 million illegal immigrants a year, every year, forever, in perpetuity."
Oil and Gas
Cruz: "We are an energy superpower and Texas is the energy superpower within the United States. When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office, they have waged a war against oil and gas and energy in the State of Texas and Colin Allred over and over and over again has voted against oil and gas jobs in Texas."
Colin Allred
AUSTIN, TEXAS - AUGUST 29: Democratic Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) speaks to constituents during a roundtable discussion on August 29, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Allred gathered with industry leaders, workers and local business leaders
On Ted Cruz's Border Attacks
Allred: "I have no patience for Ted Cruz having had forever in the United States Senate, to try and do something to help us secure the border, but instead what he's done is, every time there's been a bipartisan effort to reform the immigration system or to just have border security he's helped take it down. Whether that's in 2013 when Barack Obama and the gang of eight had a bipartisan effort to try and reform our entire immigration system, had billions of dollars for border security in that package, he took that one down or earlier this year when we had $20 billion specifically slated for border security that no state would have benefited more from than Texas, and he took that down."
Ted Cruz Ad with Jocelyn Nungaray's Mother
In recent days, Cruz has begun running ads with the mother of Jocelyn Nungaray. The 12-year-old was raped and killed by two people in the country illegally.
READ MORE: Mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray featured in Ted Cruz ad
Allred: "I am a parent. I've got a three and five-year-old. All I can hope, personally, is that if we suffered a tragedy and lost one of our children, that we would try and turn that into action. I take offense at what Ted Cruz is doing, which is using a tragedy for his political gain when he has been a part of stopping us from solving this problem, and I can't stress this enough, that he's had forever to work on this. Where's the Cruz bill? Where's the Cruz bill over the more than decade plus that he's been in the United States Senate? Why has he not been a part of the efforts to secure the border? Why does he always take it down whenever there is an effort? And he says it didn't go far enough or whatever, no, listen, that's not good enough. We have to act and when you have a crisis, which we've had, you have to respond to it."
Tightening Polls
In recent weeks, polls have shown Allred closing the gap on Cruz to different extents.
The better numbers for Allred has come since Kamala Harris took the spot at the top of the ticket.
Allred: "This is a very different race because it's different stakes for us here in Texas, and so as much as that energy is important, there's a separate decision for Texans to make, which would be who is best position to be our senator for the next six years, and I think that we've seen that Ted Cruz's you know failed and divisive and extreme record is not what most folks want and that's why he's in the position that he's in."
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