Democrat Congressman Announces Bid to Challenge Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024

Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on June 24, 2020. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo

Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) announced on May 3 that he'll challenge incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2024.

In a video slightly more than three minutes long and posted to his Twitter account, Allred, who has been in Congress since 2019, blasted Cruz as being disconnected from the people of Texas. He cited Cruz flying to Cancun during a winter blackout in Texas in February 2021. Cruz flew back almost immediately and said when he returned that in hindsight, he shouldn’t have made the trip at all.

Allred recalled experiencing the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol and texting his wife to say, “Whatever happens, I love you.” He recalled being “ready to take on anyone who came through that door.”

The video then shows Cruz saying “We will not go quietly into the night” during a speech, insinuating that he was supporting the Capitol breach, but that speech occurred days before Jan. 6, 2021, and was part of an effort to support the Republican candidates ahead of the Jan. 5, 2021, Senate runoffs in Georgia, where the Democrats would win both seats and thereby take back the Senate.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to discuss immigration at the southern border on June 22, 2022. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Allred slammed Cruz for fighting “phony culture wars” instead of focusing on kitchen-table issues such as wages and drug prices.

“The struggles of regular Texans just don’t interest him,” he said. “Well, they matter to me because those struggles are the story of my life.”

Allred went on to talk about growing up in Texas with a single mother who worked two jobs to make ends meet. He said he never knew his father, something that motivated him to be present for his own children. In 2019, he became the first member of Congress to take an announced paternity leave.

Allred was a linebacker for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans between 2006 and 2010.

Highlighting Common Ground

Allred touted his bipartisan bonafides, citing support for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the CHIPS and Science Act, which seeks to incentivize chip manufacturing in the United States amid competition from China.

He sought to alleviate concerns about whether he could win in a red state.

“Some people say a Democrat can’t win in Texas,” Allred said. “Well, someone like me was never supposed to get this far.”

In response to Allred’s campaign, Cruz posted on Twitter, saying “We can’t let a radical leftist like Colin Allred flip our state blue in 2024. Join my team today and help keep Texas red!”

There is a link to donate to Cruz’s campaign through the Republican fundraising platform WinRed.

Allred is the biggest name so far to jump into the Democrat field that includes five other candidates looking to challenge Cruz next year.

In the House, Allred serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.