Cruz opponent Allred tries to thread needle with Democratic convention appearance
![Cruz opponent Allred tries to thread needle with Democratic convention appearance](https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/03/allredcolin_030724gn01_w.jpg?w=900)
CHICAGO — Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who is locked in a tight Senate race against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R), is trying to thread the needle by appearing at the Democratic National Convention to rally voters for Vice President Harris while also trying to avoid getting swept up in the controversies surrounding her record.
Democratic officials announced Thursday morning that Allred is scheduled to speak at the United Center before Harris addresses the nation on the final night of the four-day convention.
Allred is likely hoping that Harris will help energize Democratic, young and minority voters in Texas, but he’s being careful not to cleave to his party’s nominee so closely that it could become a liability in the race.
Allred and his team had kept his plans to speak at the Democratic National Convention quiet. The Quorum Report, which has covered Texas politics since 1983, reported earlier this month that Allred's team asked that his name not be advertised among the members of Congress and governors slated to speak at the convention and that he did not initially appear on the list of speakers set to address the state delegation in Chicago.
Other Democrats in tough races, namely Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Jacky Rosen (Nev.), opted to skip the convention.
The 41-year-old Texas representative spoke briefly at the Texas delegation breakfast Thursday morning and met with Texas press after the event.
His team did not make him available more generally to field questions about some of the top issues dominating the presidential race, such as Harris’s proposal to crack down on corporate price gouging, which Republicans have attacked as socialist-leaning price controls.
He entered and departed the large breakfast room, where Texas delegates enjoyed plates of scrambled eggs and bacon, by a side door leading to the kitchen, providing him with a route to avoid any questions about Harris’s record on the border or other hot-button topics.
Cruz, Allred’s opponent, has accused him of dodging the media, dubbing him “Can’t Comment Colin” and knocking him earlier this month for not holding a press conference for 52 days.
Allred’s campaign pushed back by pointing out that Cruz only allowed the media to ask two questions during a recent campaign stop in Abilene and declined to answer written questions about abortion from the San Antonio Express-News.
The campaign says it has done 30 open press events and interviews in July and August.
A poll released Thursday by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs and Texas Southern University showed Cruz narrowly leading Allred with 46.6 percent support to 44.5 percent; 6.4 percent of voters were undecided.
The survey showed Allred with a 7-point lead over Cruz with women and Cruz leading Allred by 13 percentage points among men.
The same poll showed Trump leading Harris in Texas by 5 percentage points, 49.5 percent to 44.6 percent.
With Tester facing an uphill reelection race in Montana, Democratic senators increasingly think that their hopes of hanging onto the majority may boil down to the Texas Senate race.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) at a briefing with reporters Tuesday touted Allred’s prodigious fundraising effort.
“Texas, he’s raising a ton of money. Colin Allred is really doing well because people don’t like Ted Cruz around the country and many small donors are sending in their $10 and $15 and $20 there,” Schumer said. “Are Republicans going to have to put some money to defend Cruz?”
Allred had raised $41.2 million and Cruz had raised $40 million by the end of June, though Cruz had a cash-on-hand advantage of $14.2 million to Allred’s $10.5 million.
Allred has tried to keep Harris at arm's length while Cruz has tried to tie his opponent to the top of the Democratic ticket.
In 2019, Harris endorsed "Medicare for All" and changing the Senate’s filibuster rule to pass the sweeping Green New Deal.
When asked about Harris’s campaign a few weeks ago during an MSNBC interview, Allred kept his answer short: “Vice President Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and I’ve known her for some time, and I support her nomination.”
He has bristled at times when asked about Harris while trying to keep his campaign narrowly focused on the issues most important to his home state.
When a writer for The Texas Tribune asked him earlier this month whether he’d engage with Harris about the border, Allred replied: “Why do y’all want to talk about the Harris campaign so much? I’ve got my own race. Honestly?”
Republicans say that Allred is trying to have it both ways by endorsing Harris and speaking on the convention stage while staying quiet about elements of her campaign agenda.
“Colin Allred rushed out of the gate to endorse Kamala Harris, the farthest left Democrat nominee in American history, and now he’s hiding from the media because he can’t defend her extreme agenda. The fact is Allred has supported every radical Harris-Biden policy from banning fracking to halting [liquefied natural gas] exports to mass amnesty and he owes Texans some answers,” National Republican Senatorial Campaign spokesperson Philip Letsou said.
Harris endorsed Allred in the 2018 and 2020 election cycles and donated $2,500 from her leadership PAC to his campaign. He has praised her in the past as an “incredible leader.”
Texas state Sen. César Blanco (D), a surrogate for Allred, said Cruz is trying to nationalize the race because the latest polling shows him in trouble.
“Colin is not focusing on anything other than Texas. He’s been spending time traveling throughout the state, visiting with mayors and visiting with constituents and voters. That is his primary focus,” he said.
“Ted Cruz wants to nationalize this because Ted Cruz knows he’s in trouble. There was a recent poll that was just released today that shows him in real trouble,” he added. “He definitely wants to nationalize the race.”
Allred spoke for 10 minutes Thursday at the Texas delegation breakfast. He talked about his life story, being raised by a single mom and his football career with the Titans.
He told the assembled delegates that he was proud of them for making a strong showing on the convention floor.
And he talked about the stories of Texas women who have suffered under the state’s strict six-week abortion ban.
He talked about his work on voting rights, which is a top priority of the Harris campaign, but he didn’t talk about the nominee or the other issues in the race, such as tax policy, the Gaza war, or next steps to curtail carbon emissions.
If elected, he pledged to “restore a women’s right to choose” and “protect Medicare and Social Security,” and he told delegates “we’re going to secure our border and pass comprehensive immigration reform.”
Allred has also said he would support changing the Senate’s filibuster rule to pass legislation to codify Roe v. Wade.
But while he side-stepped some of the hot-button policy topics of the race, he highlighted the closeness of the Texas Senate race, noting that the margin is tight enough that an energetic get-out-the vote campaign could push him to victory.
“Just today we had a poll come out showed us within 2 points [of Cruz]. You know what that means? I’ll tell you what that means. That is a field margin,” he said. “A field margin is how many doors you can knock, how many phone calls you can make, how many fellow Texans you can get involved.
“I need y’all’s help,” he implored. “I need you to take this same energy, this same belief, this same unity that you’ve shown throughout this convention … Take that to Austin, Texas, for 75 days and let’s beat Ted Cruz.”
Date: |
-
ABC News - Health
Congressional Democrats push resolution that says hospitals must provide emergency abortions
A resolution introduced by Congressional Democrats would make clear that U.S. emergency rooms need to provide emergency abortions when a woman’s health or life is at risk, despite strict state ...13 minutes ago - Abortion -
ABC News - Health
Georgia Republican leader seeks policy changes after school shooting but Democrats want more
Georgia’s state House speaker says lawmakers in 2025 will consider new policies after a school shooting killed four at a high school northeast of Atlanta29 minutes ago -
The New York Times - Top stories
In Fight for Congress, Democrats Run as ‘Team Normal,’ Casting G.O.P. as ‘Weird’
In competitive districts, Democratic congressional candidates have pivoted from portraying Republicans as dangerous and extreme to ridiculing them as too odd to support.2 hours ago -
NBC News - Politics
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton set to do their first post-convention fundraisers for Harris
Former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are set to hold separate fundraisers for Kamala Harris in Los Angeles next Friday, according to three people familiar ...2 hours ago -
CBS News - Top stories
LL COOL J on surprising VMAs audience with Public Enemy appearance
LL COOL J lit up the VMAs stage, bringing out Chuck D and Flavor Flav for a powerful performance that celebrated hip hop's legacy and debuted new music from "The FORCE."3 hours ago -
The Guardian - World
Why is our so-called democratic society suppressing freedom of speech? | Laura Flanders
Trump stoking bigotry and calling journalists ‘enemies of the people’ is reminiscent of Hitler. It’s hard to imagine – until it isn’t. Claud Cockburn, my grandfather, knew when it was time to leave ...10 hours ago -
The New York Times - Lifestyle
Nensi Dojaka Offers a Moodier Take on the Famous Calvin Klein Underwear
The buzzy designer Nensi Dojaka will offer a moodier take on the famous underwear. No tight white briefs or sweaty six-packs in sight.13 hours ago -
Politico - Politics
House Democrats pour more cash into Iowa, Virginia races
3 days ago
More from The Hill
-
The Hill - Politics
Keurig coffee pod maker charged with making inaccurate recyclability claims
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday charged Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., which makes single-use coffee pods, with making inaccurate claims about the recyclability of its products. ...19 minutes ago -
The Hill - Politics
Parents push for kids' online safety bill markup, vote after it stalls in House
Parents whose children have died or been seriously harmed as a result of social media are pushing for the House to mark up and vote on stalled legislation intended to increase kids’ safety and ...28 minutes ago -
The Hill - Politics
US imposes sanctions in wake of disputed Venezuela presidential election
The United States announced Thursday that it will sanction 16 of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s allies following July’s disputed presidential election which kept him in power. The sanctions ...32 minutes ago -
The Hill - Politics
'Anti-immigrant' laws surging at state level, led by Texas: Report
GOP state lawmakers have significantly ramped up restrictions on migrants and immigration recently, according to a Thursday report from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), which ...36 minutes ago -
The Hill - Politics
White House: Loomer mocking Harris’s Indian heritage is ‘racist poison’
The White House on Thursday condemned right-wing activist Laura Loomer for mocking Vice President Harris’s Indian heritage. Loomer, a former congressional candidate, recently said on social media ...36 minutes ago