Congressman Colin Allred (D-TX) recently discussed his intention to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) with Fox News.
Allred announced his candidacy last month in a video posted to his Twitter account.
“I think we know as Texans we can’t afford to have another term of Ted Cruz representing us in the Senate. That’s what it is about. It’s not about the presidential race or past races in the Senate, it’s about me vs. Ted Cruz,” Allred told Fox.
“We know we can’t count on him, he went on vacation during the freeze and he’s one of the people who tried to lead the insurrection on January 6th, so I think that’s not the Texas that I know.”
Allred also criticized Cruz’s response to the number of migrants entering Texas from Mexico.
“This is not the first time we’ve seen surges of migrants coming to those communities. It’s often been the case the federal government has not done enough. But it’s also true that for ten years Ted Cruz has been in the Senate, he’s done nothing to fix this problem.
“It’s not just a situation where you go to the border, point out the problems and act like you are on a safari. You’re a legislator, you are in the United States Senate, pass legislation,” said Allred to Fox.
Allred opined on what could be improved along the border to help with the issue.
“They need to have more resources to put into our border communities, to deal with the surge. We need to process people faster. The asylum process is too slow,” Allred stated, per Fox.
“Some of it is on Congress. Our immigration system is broken, it’s only so much any administration can do. Just saying you are going to build a wall is not a solution. Yes, we have some physical barriers there, we want to channel folks to ports of entry, but it’s much more complicated than that.”
But Sen. Cruz asserts that he figured out the solution to the crisis at the border long ago.
“In 2020, the last year of the Trump presidency, we had the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. You ask what I have done? I’ve championed the men and women of Border Patrol, I championed securing the border, I Championed Remain in Mexico, and we turned this problem around and solved it,” stated Cruz, per Newsweek.
Nate Maddux, a spokesperson for Cruz, gave a scathing synopsis of Allred following the latter’s campaign announcement.
“Allred wants men to compete in women’s sports, isn’t serious about addressing the crisis at the border, wants to take away law-abiding Texans’ guns, and is soft on punishing murderers,” said Maddux, per The Texas Tribune. “Bottom line, Allred is too extreme for Texas.”
Formerly an NFL player, Allred is a three-time congressman and served in the general counsel’s office for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
As reported by The Dallas Express, Allred’s campaign previously raised $3.3 million during the 2021-2022 reporting cycle.
The congressman is required to give up his seat in the House to run for election in the Senate, a decision that some believe he will regret.
“Just like Beto O’Rourke before him, Colin Allred is going to quickly regret giving up his safe House seat to run yet another doomed, Democrat vanity campaign in Texas,” said NRSC spokesperson Philip Letsou, per The Texas Tribune.
Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Farmers Branch) recently launched her campaign to run for Allred’s seat in the upcoming election, according to The Texas Tribune.