The only debate between Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and his Democrat challenger, Congressman Colin Allred, was fiery from the jump and didn’t cool down.
Allred, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 2018, won the coin flip and chose to go first. In his introduction, Allred highlighted his Texas roots and childhood growing up with a single mother. He also called himself the “most bipartisan Texan in Congress” before slamming Cruz as “the most extreme senator in the United States Senate.”
Cruz, who is hoping voters send him back to Washington for another term, started on a slightly gentler note, by seeming to be congratulatory of Allred’s upbringing and success. But that was quickly followed by a warning to viewers of the pair’s only debate — Cruz said Allred would “say an awful lot of words that sound reasonable” while avoiding pointed questions about his voting record.
Just two minutes into the hourlong debate, it was clear neither candidate would shy away from highlighting why their opponent was grossly unfit for the job.
Early voting begins in Texas in less than a week, making Tuesday night’s debate the candidates' last-ditch effort to rally their base and possibly convince some undecided voters to cast a ballot in their favor.
Over the last several weeks, polls have shown the candidates within a few points of each other. A poll by the UH Hobby School of Public Affairs released just hours before the debate showed Cruz in the lead by 4 points.
For Cruz, a win in November would mean his third term as the state’s junior senator. If Allred won, he’d become the first Democrat to hold a statewide elected position in three decades.
Cruz and Allred on abortion and IVF
The debate, which was put on by WFAA in Dallas, kicked off with a question on abortion — a topic Allred seemed very prepared to talk about. Texas has one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws, without exceptions for rape or incest.
Allred told Cruz he should address “the 26,000 Texas women who've been forced to give birth to their rapist's child under this law that you called perfectly reasonable.” Allred also chided Sen. Cruz for celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade, something Cruz called a “massive victory for life.”
Cruz didn’t directly address his stance on abortion exceptions, saying he doesn’t “serve in the state legislature” and that he isn’t the governor. Cruz then accused Allred of voting in favor of “legalizing abortion up to and including the eighth and ninth month of pregnancy.”
Throughout the exchange, Allred and Cruz were animated as their opponent talked — Allred shook his head and, at times, Cruz laughed at Allred’s assertions.
Allred said, if elected he’d “restore a woman's right to choose.” Then pivoted to tell anyone watching that “when Ted Cruz says he's pro-life, he doesn't mean yours.”
Cruz fired back, asking the moderator to make Allred answer questions around his voting record on the issue.
Later in the hour, the candidates also sparred over protections for in vitro fertilization, with each blaming the other’s party for creating issues around IVF in the first place. This comes after the Alabama Supreme Court ruling in February that said discarded embryos from fertility treatments were considered children under state law.
Border security for Texas and the country
Another main sparring point on Tuesday was border security, one the biggest topics Cruz and Allred have been discussing on the campaign trail.
The first question on this topic went to Allred, who was asked why he changed his position on border wall expansion. Moderators pointed out Allred was against the idea when former President Donald Trump was in office and called it “racist”, but began supporting the expansion plan once President Joe Biden took office.
Allred dodged the question and instead pivoted to how Sen. Cruz refused to support a bipartisan border bill earlier this year, which Allred called the “toughest border security bill in a generation.” (This has been a common talking point for Allred and fodder for a recent campaign ad).
Cruz fired back on Allred’s own voting record, saying that, “every single time there's a serious measure in the House to secure the border, Colin Allred votes no.” Cruz went on to tie Allred to Vice President Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, saying both have, “voted in favor of open borders over and over and over again.”
The candidates on the economy
Candidates also got a chance to talk about inflation and the economy, issues that Cruz and Republicans have been happy to talk about this campaign season.
Cruz started his portion by blaming inflation on Harris and Allred, saying they spent “trillions of dollars we didn't have.”
Allred rebutted that he’s been “laser focused” on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, health care, child care and housing. This also gave Allred a chance to take a dig at Cruz for an attempt to cap the cost of insulin for those on Medicare, which failed in the Senate after passing the House.
Cruz was able to spin that around on Allred and blamed Democrats for killing a plan that former President Trump put in place to make insulin affordable (A statement also used by Trump during his debate with Harris, which was fact checked by CNN and declared false).
When the conversation turned to housing, Allred’s vision sounded a lot like VP Harris’s plan to increase the housing supply.
On the other hand, Cruz blamed the high cost of housing on, “the 11.5 million illegal immigrants that Congressman Allred and Kamala Harris have led in with their open borders.”
The debate covered a wide range of additional topics, including the war in Gaza, whether or not participants in the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol should receive pardons and the rising cost of home insurance in areas prone to natural disasters.
A fierce and expensive Senate race
Texas’ U.S. Senate contest is one of the nation’s more hotly contested races this election year. That’s likely, in part, due to the close win Cruz snagged last time he was on the ballot: In 2018, he beat Democrat Beto O’Rourke by a little more that 200,000 votes.
Democrats, who are desperate to keep their majority in the U.S. Senate, see some opportunity in Texas and money has been poured into the race in favor of Allred.
Allred outraised Cruz in the most recent fundraising cycle. Overall, the Texas Tribune reports the two candidates have raised a combined $132 million over the course of the campaign so far.
