The January 6 rioters had been closing in quick. Texas congressman Colin Allred may hear them coming, breaking glass and pounding on doorways. He thought of his toddler son; Allred thought concerning the chance he might be killed on the Home ground and by no means meet his second son, on account of be born in two months. He despatched a textual content to his spouse: No matter occurs, I really like you. Then Allred took off his swimsuit jacket and braced himself to make use of the abilities he’d realized as an NFL linebacker, “placing individuals on the bottom.”
In the meantime, Texas senator Ted Cruz, who had helped stoke the riot, was hiding in a provide closet.
Within the Hollywood model, the second Allred realized about Cruz cowering is the second the Democratic congressman determined to run towards the Republican senator in 2024. The truth isn’t that melodramatic, however as Allred underscores the distinction between their responses throughout the riot, it’s clear that he’s ready to make a pointy and compelling case towards Cruz. “There’s been no accountability for his actions,” Allred tells me. “For being on trip in Cancun when Texas was freezing, for utilizing the border as a political backdrop however not passing any laws, for being probably the most divisive figures within the nation, whipping up the mob within the weeks previous to January 6. However that accountability comes on this election.”
Allred nonetheless must win his social gathering’s nomination subsequent March, and he’ll face a spirited Democratic main opponent in Roland Gutierrez, a state senator whose district consists of San Antonio and Uvalde and who’s making lowering gun violence a precedence. However one purpose Allred is taken into account the front-runner, and why he might be a critical common election risk to Cruz, is his marketing campaign’s concept of the case. (Allred has been inside single digits of Cruz in, admittedly, very early head-to-head polls; he’s additionally outraising the incumbent out of the gate.)
His camp believes the most important lesson from Beto O’Rourke’s slim loss to Cruz in 2018 isn’t merely that the Republican is susceptible, however that the race was an excessive amount of about O’Rourke and never sufficient about Cruz. The charismatic O’Rourke turned a star and a trigger, which was sufficient to get him inside 2.6% of victory; Allred believes that to defeat Cruz the main target must be squarely on the incumbent. “Oh, Ted Cruz is unlikable. However he’s additionally not doing the job. And that’s the most important factor,” Allred says. “He has turn into largely a media determine. He’s podcasting thrice every week. He’s a continuing presence on Fox Information. He’s a content material machine, however he’s not a legislative machine. He votes towards our pursuits time and time once more, as a result of he’s an ideologue, pursuing an ideological viewpoint and a media viewpoint, not what’s finest for Texas.”
There could be different important variations between O’Rourke and Allred as Cruz challengers. O’Rourke was staunchly left of heart; Allred, who at the moment represents a suburban Dallas district, is modestly reasonable. Allred helps purple flag legal guidelines and common background checks, however he is not going to be declaring, as O’Rourke did throughout a short presidential run, “Hell sure, we’re going to take your AR-15.” Allred believes local weather change is a disaster, however he’s pragmatic relating to considered one of Texas’s strongest industries. “It isn’t practical to assume that we’re going to have the ability to instantly transition away from fossil fuels,” he says. “I’ve been supportive of an all-of-the-above power method.”
His private story ought to have broad attraction. Allred, 40, says he has by no means met his father, who was Black; he was raised in Dallas by his mom, a white public college trainer, and went to Baylor on a soccer scholarship, then spent 4 seasons taking part in for the Tennessee Titans. Mendacity on the sphere, injured, Allred determined to go to legislation college; he later labored on housing points within the Obama administration. In 2018 Allred, in his first run for workplace, knocked off 11-term Republican congressman Pete Classes. “He’s genuinely involved with making a distinction for different individuals,” says Julian Castro, the previous San Antonio mayor who, as HUD secretary, was Allred’s boss (and who’s now an MSNBC contributor and emphasizes that he can’t endorse candidates). “Colin hasn’t forgotten the place he got here from.”
None of which is able to preserve Cruz from hammering Allred, if he’s the nominee, on culture-war points, by making an attempt to painting his opponent as a drag queen-loving socialist Democrat, taking part in to partisan benefit: Democrats haven’t received a statewide election in Texas since 1994. “Even in essentially the most liberal locations in Texas, we’re just about a center-right type of individuals. , even Democrats like their weapons right here,” says Vinny Minchillo, a Republican strategist in Dallas. “However the political map of Texas is all the time very tough, as a result of each two years there’s a complete new crop of individuals coming from out of state. So I’d by no means say by no means about Cruz being susceptible. I’m simply stunned as a result of Allred is leaving a very protected, good seat, and this is perhaps a suicide mission for him.” To tug off an upset, Allred will want the identical perverse assist with Democratic turnout motivation that President Joe Biden is in search of: “If Trump is on the high of the Republican ticket,” Texas political analyst Harvey Kronberg says, “then Ted Cruz is beatable.”
Allred shrugs in any respect the hypothesis and triangulation. He’s properly conserving issues as easy, and as native, as attainable. “This isn’t concerning the broader tendencies within the nation. It’s not concerning the different races that we’ve had on the statewide degree. This isn’t about whether or not Texas goes to show blue,” he says. “It’s a few specific senator who has not been doing the job and who shouldn’t be reelected. That is about beating Ted Cruz and getting 30 million Texans the type of management they deserve.”
