Rep. Colin Allred announced his Senate campaign raised more than $2 million in a day and a half in their race to defeat Senator Ted Cruz.
The Allred representative tweeted:
I’ve been on some amazing teams in my life, but you all have helped me raise over $2 million in just 36 hours since I announced my campaign to represent all Texans.
Together, we set a record for this cycle by raising the most on the first day of a Senate campaign.
— Colin Allred (@ColinAllredTX) May 5, 2023
To add some context, Allred raised as much money in less than two days as Beto O’Rourke did during the entire first quarter of his Senate campaign against Cruz:
It’s almost exactly the equivalent of Beto O’Rourke’s first fundraising quarter of 2017. https://t.co/ykT0H4Bky1
— Will Jordan (@williamjordann) May 5, 2023
The 2018 Senate election propelled Beto O’Rourke to national prominence as he narrowly lost to Cruz in one of the nation’s reddest states by 2.6 points or 219,000 votes.
There are clear signs of trouble for Cruz in his favorability rating while Texas voters are split between 45% and 44% on the Republican incumbent senator’s approval rating.
Senator Cruz (right) has spent the years since running against Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 growing closer to the former president.
However, Trump has always struggled with voters in Texas. According to April 2023 Texas Polling Project Survey, Trump’s approval is underwater among all Texas voters (42%-48%), but he remains immensely popular with strong Republicans (86% approval).
It looks like Cruz could be in for another close re-election campaign, and if Allred keeps fundraising, the Texas Democrats’ long-elusive statewide victory has a chance in 2024.
Jason is the editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate studies focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association
