Ted Cruz, Colin Allred clash in US Senate debate. Here's how each candidate scored points.
The exchanges were sometimes personal as the two candidates seeking to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate held their only debate of the campaign.
This story has been updated with new information.
Tuesday night's bare-knuckled debate in Texas' U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Colin Allred underscored the tightness of the race and foreshadowed a free-wheeling sprint to the finish with hot-button issues taking center stage.
The matchup in Dallas ahead of the Nov. 5 election saw both candidates going toe to toe and head to head on a range of issues but most fiercely debating abortion and unlawful immigration.
Their rhetoric was often both personal and accusatory, despite their warm opening handshake, with each candidate adding a pat to the bicep of the other. The debate came three weeks before the election will be decided and less than one week before early voting starts in Texas.
Speaking first with his minutelong opening statement, Allred wasted no time reminding viewers watching on television or a livestream that Cruz took a brief vacation to the Mexican resort city of Cancun in February 2021 when Texas was in the throes of one of its deadliest winter storms in history.
Cruz, seeking his third six-year term, sought to join Allred at the hips of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 presidential nominee, and to their immigration and border security policies.
At one point Cruz even said, "Colin Allred is Kamala Harris."
During the hourlong debate, Cruz repeatedly name-dropped former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee. Allred never mentioned the names of Biden or Harris, but he did boast Wednesday morning that his campaign raked in more than $1 million in the hours after the debate.
The fireworks started with abortion
Allred, who is giving up his seat representing Dallas in the U.S. House to run for Senate, blamed Cruz for his support for overturning the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision that affirmed the right to an abortion with few exceptions. Cruz said he believed that the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision that handed abortion policy to the states was the correct course.
"You should look into the camera and speak to Kate Cox, who's watching right now, and explain to her why you said that this law, that you said is perfectly reasonable, why she was forced to leave her two children behind and flee our state to get the care that she needed," Allred said to Cruz, who was standing a few feet to his left in the studio of Dallas TV station WFAA, which hosted the event.
Cox, who suffered complications from her pregnancy that jeopardized her future fertility, has been an active Allred supporter and is featured in his latest TV ad.
Cruz said that as divisive as the issue has been for decades, "there's also a lot of consensus" on the issue in Texas, such as for regulating late-term abortion and requiring that parents be involved in any decision when a minor is seeking to terminate a pregnancy. He accused Allred of opposing both, but Cruz sidestepped a direct answer to the question of whether rape or incest should become exceptions to the state's abortion ban.
Allred, seeking to become the first Texas Democrat to win a statewide election in 30 years, said he supports a federal law that would essentially adopt the constraints of the Roe decision.
Cruz, Allred parry over border policy
Immigration, especially the contrast between the policies of the Trump and Biden administrations, gave Cruz the opportunity to go on offense.
"He calls the border wall, quote, 'that racist border wall,' and he is tearing down that racist border wall personally," Cruz said of Allred, a reference to a quote by the Democrat early in his political career. "He's voted against border wall, not once, not twice, but three times. Every single time there's a serious measure in the House here on the border, Colin Allred votes no."
More: Ted Cruz attacks Biden's immigration policy at Republican National Convention
Allred sought to turn the table, pointing out that Cruz was a "no" vote earlier this year on a bipartisan border security bill.
"I have a simple question for you," Allred said to Cruz. "The $20 billion for 1,000 new border agents, for 100 new immigration judges, for 4,000 asylum personnel to help us have technology to catch fentanyl coming across the border — why did you not vote for it?"
It was a reference to legislation that Trump urged Republicans to reject because it might have given the Biden administration an election-year victory on an issue that is viewed as a vulnerability for Democrats.
Cruz countered that Trump's approach to the border had proven better.
"We produced the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years working hand in hand with President Trump," he said. "He didn't address that. He also didn't address the fact that it didn't take long for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and Colin Allred to break the border."
Who was where on Jan. 6?
When the debate moderator asked Cruz why he had seemed to soften his early rhetoric that the attempted Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was an act of terrorism that sought to undermine the transition of presidential power from Trump to Biden, the Republican pivoted his answer to note that police organizations with thousands of members have endorsed his reelection bid.
"I've spent 12 years fighting to defend the men and women of law enforcement," Cruz said. "That's why I've been endorsed by the leaders of organizations over 44,000 law enforcement officers. That's why I've been endorsed by Kim Ogg, the Democratic district attorney of Harris County."
Cruz was among the members of Congress who voted against certifying Biden's victory after order was restored at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Allred pounced on Cruz, noting that he was on the floor of the House as the rioters advanced through the Capitol. At the time, Allred was just beginning his second term in Congress after retiring from being an NFL linebacker and becoming a civil rights lawyer.
"I texted my wife, Ali — who was seven months pregnant with our son, Cameron, and home with our son George, who wasn't yet 2 — 'Whatever happens, I love you,'" he said. "I took off my suit jacket, and I was prepared to defend the House from the mob.
"When the mob came, Sen. Cruz was hiding in a supply closet."
Transgender athletes and locker rooms
Over the past several weeks, Cruz has been running TV and digital ads accusing Allred of supporting legislation that would open the doors for boys and men to compete against girls and women on high school athletics, and for the end of separate locker rooms.
"He is a co-sponsor, and he voted for a law called the Equality Act," Cruz said. "The Equality Act mandated that boys be able to go in girls' bathrooms, in their locker rooms and their changing rooms. He voted for it."
Allred said Cruz had misstated the bill's intent, and he called the matter a late-campaign distraction with polls foreshadowing a tight race.
"You don't have to be the former NFL linebacker to recognize a Hail Mary when you see one," Allred said, referring to a late-game tactic in which a quarterback throws a long pass in hopes that it will lead to a game-changing touchdown. "This is a desperate last-second attempt by Sen. Cruz to distract you because he can't defend his record."
Where the Cruz-Allred race stands three weeks before Election Day
On Tuesday morning, the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston released a poll showing Cruz leading Allred with 50% to the Democrat's 46%.
Here are some key poll findings:
- Cruz holds a 15-percentage-point lead over Allred among men, 56% to 41%.
- Allred holds a 7-percentage-point lead over Cruz among women, 51% to 44%.
- Cruz leads Allred by 22 percentage points — 60% to 38% — among white likely voters.
- Allred leads Cruz by 62 percentage points — 78% to 16% — among Black likely voters.
- Allred edges out Cruz 48% to 45% among Latino likely voters.