Every couple years, Democrats in Texas make a bid to unseat statewide Republicans and fall short, failing to win a Senate race since 1988 and the governor’s mansion since 1990. Former lieutenant governor Bob Bullock was the last Democrat to win statewide office in 1994.

But Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas-area Democrat, is putting his best foot forward in his challenge to Sen.Ted Cruz. On Wednesday, Allred’s campaign announced he raised nearly $6.2 million in less than two months since launching his run in May. 

What You Need To Know

  • Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas-area Democrat raised $6.2 million in less than two months since announcing his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz next year

  • The Allred campaign boasted they raised in 59 days what Beto O’Rourke took nine months to raise in his 2018 campaign.

  • Allred, a former Baylor University linebacker who played parts of four seasons in the NFL, believes he can be the man who can unseat Cruz and bring Democrats a statewide victory in Texas for the first time in 30 years

  • No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since 1994 

His campaign previously said he raised $2 million in the first 36 hours of his campaign.

"Since day one this campaign has been about bringing people together to beat Ted Cruz,” Allred’s campaign manager Paige Hutchinson said in a statement. “We are amazed at the outpouring of support, and more confident than ever that we will have the resources to win next November.”

Others have tried. In 2018, then-Rep. Beto O’Rourke garnered national attention, raising nearly $79 million to Cruz’s $45 million, but falling short by roughly 215,000 votes in the closest U.S. Senate race in Texas since 1978.

Four years later, after a failed presidential bid, O’Rourke tried again, this time mounting a challenge to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. O’Rourke raised tens of millions more, but lost by 11%. 

On Wednesday, the Allred campaign boasted they raised in 59 days what Beto O’Rourke took nine months to raise in his 2018 campaign. The donations came from 97,600 unique donors, according to a release.

In addition to the $6.2 million brought in by donors, Allred can count on $2.4 million he transferred from his congressional campaign. His Senate campaign did not say how much they have spent and official campaign finance filings are not yet public.

Allred, a former Baylor University linebacker who played parts of four seasons in the NFL, believes he can be the man who can unseat Cruz and bring Democrats a statewide victory for the first time in 30 years.

“We have to appeal broadly. And I think that’s something I’ve tried to do in my time in Congress. Be somebody who can bring people together, find common ground,” Allred said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” last month, touting endorsements in prior races by both the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. “It’s possible to lead in that way. And I think that’s what we need in Texas right now.”

Allred also said in that interview part of his strategy is to recruit support from the 9.5 million registered voters in the state who did not vote in the 2022 midterm elections.

When he was first elected to Congress in 2018, Allred beat a 22-year incumbent Republican, Rep. Pete Sessions, who was later reelected in a separate district.

Cruz has yet to release his latest fundraising totals, but in the first three months of 2023, he raised a little over $1 million and ended with $3.3 million in his campaign accounts, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

After Allred announced, Cruz’s campaign described him as a “far-left radical” who is “too extreme for Texas.”

In his primary, Cruz is unlikely to face stiff competition. The two-term conservative is a strong ally of former President Donald Trump — who maintains his popularity with the Republican primary electorate — and 69% of Texas Republicans said their opinion of the senator was “very favorable” or “somewhat favorable” in a University of Texas at Tyler poll in May.

One prominent Republican, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, has said he won’t run for the Senate in 2024.

A handful of low profile candidates have entered the race against Allred, but no sitting elected official has announced a challenge.

In the University of Texas poll, 36% of Democrats and 55% of independents said they didn’t know enough about Allred to form an opinion. But he trailed Cruz by just five points in a head-to-head match up, with 14% saying they weren’t sure which candidate they would pick. 

In another May poll by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation, Allred trailed by 7% among all Texans even though 49% of voters said they didn’t know enough to have a favorable or unfavorable view of the congressman.

“Allred is the early leader among Democrats, but anyone who wins the Democratic nomination will have a difficult race against Cruz,” said Dr. Mark P. Jones, the director of research and analytics for the foundation said at the time. “It will be critical for the Democratic nominee to introduce themselves to Texans over the course of the next year and make their case for change.”

Cruz logged a 49% favorable rating among all voters, with 45% viewing him unfavorably. Among Republicans, 83% had a favorable opinion of him.