Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will serve a third term after winning an expensive and contentious race against Democratic Rep. Colin Allred.
Cruz retained his seat after beating back Allred, keeping alive Texas’ streak of not electing a Democratic Senator in more than 30 years.
Cruz rose to national prominence when he ran for President in 2016, before dropping out of the Republican primary and eventually endorsing Donald Trump. He has been embroiled in controversies during his time in office, including taking a 2021 trip to Cancún, Mexico, when a devastating winter storm left millions of Texans without electricity.
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After a failed presidential bid in 2016 in which he traded sharp words with Donald Trump during the primaries, Cruz returned to the Senate as one of Trump’s strongest defenders in key moments. On Jan. 6, 2021, Cruz was objecting to the certification of Arizona’s election results when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Leading up to the attack, a leaked phone call revealed that the Texas Senator had been pushing for the creation of a congressionally appointed electoral commission to assess unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election, per the Washington Post. He voted to acquit Trump in both of the former President’s impeachment trials.
Trump endorsed Cruz in the race. “It’s hard to believe he’s in a race, because honestly, I don’t know who would want to run against him,” Trump said of Cruz during a Texas campaign event. “He’s really a great senator. He loves the country. He’s tough as hell. He’s always fighting.”
Now with Cruz’s win assured, Republicans hope they can take control of the Senate as Democrats seek to defend a slim majority.
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The nailbiter Texas Senate race mirrored similar political tension in 2018, when Cruz narrowly won a second term by beating Democrat Beto O’ Rourke by just 2.6 points. Estimates by FiveThirtyEight showed the gap between Cruz and Allred growing narrower in the days leading up to the election, with Cruz leading by some three points as of Nov. 1.
The race was one of the most expensive U.S. Senate races this year. with each candidate raising more than $160 million cumulatively for their respective campaigns, according to KUT News. Cruz raised $86 million overall, and campaigned under the slogan “Keep Texas, Texas.” On the campaign trail, he highlighted his anti-abortion stance, and signaled support for the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Cruz has also emphasized his opposition to the participation of transgender women in sports, running ads pointing to Allred’s vote against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, which would bar transgender women from participating in women’s sports.