AUSTIN, Texas – Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz emerged victorious over Democrat Colin Allred on Tuesday night in one of the most watched and expensive Senate races in the country, according to NBC News and Fox News.
Cruz, an often polarizing figure on the national political stage, trailed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Texas, according to incomplete and unofficial reports, while Allred managed to tap at least some support in his hard-hitting campaign that began more than a year ago started. a year and a half ago.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, speaks during a rally at Million Air in El Paso on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. Most of Cruz’s comments were aimed at creating contrast between him and his opponent in the U.S. Senate race, the Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas.
“Tonight, the people of Texas in our great state spoke as clear as day,” Cruz said during a cheering victory celebration in his home base of Houston. “Texas will remain Texas.”
That was a repeat of Cruz’s campaign slogan, but his message was intended to expand his base while highlighting his support from some Democrats, most notably Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who backed the Republican after she lost her primary had lost in March.
Just as it was when Cruz pulled off a narrow victory over former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, six years ago, Cruz’s success was rooted in rural Texas, from the Panhandle to the High Plains, where he won the score increased. . Allred performed strongly in urban and suburban centers.
He easily won El Paso County. Allred started the evening with 60 percent of the votes. Cruz trailed with just 37% of the vote in El Paso. These percentages held when Election Day votes were added to the early voting tallies.
Democratic challenger Colin Allred thanks his supporters on election night in Dallas on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Allred lost his bid to unseat Senator Ted Cruz.
Cruz stopped to campaign in El Paso during the final weekend before the Nov. 5 election.
Cruz, 53, is entering his third term as Texas’ junior U.S. senator, but perhaps the state’s best known for the national prominence he gained as a candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. However, he may be in the shadows state of colleague John Cornyn, who has spent the 2024 campaign getting the votes he will need to secure the Republican leadership position in the Senate in January.
Cruz’s matchup with Allred emerged as the nation’s most expensive Senate race of the 2024 cycle. According to the most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, both candidates have raised and spent more than $75 million each, and both continued to aggressively pursue contributions until the eve of election day.
And just like in 2018, Cruz got a late campaign boost from Donald Trump, who appeared with the senator on October 30. That same day, Allred was part of a large meeting led by Vice President Kamala Harris in Houston.
More: Scenes of voting locations in El Paso County for Election Day 2024
Allred’s biggest challenge in his bid to become the first Texas Democrat to win statewide since 1994 was trying to harness the enthusiasm Harris injected into the party after President Joe Biden left the race, but without the moderate Republican and alienate independent voters who might have become disillusioned. with Cruz after his twelve years in Washington.
Cruz leaned on deep-seated concerns about the sharp spike in unlawful immigration during Biden’s presidency and sought to portray Allred as soft on border security.
For Allred, the central issue of his campaign was the loss of abortion rights when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 49-year-old, landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.
Not a single campaign appearance and few TV and digital ads made any mention of Cruz’s portrayal of himself as an anti-abortion hardliner dating back to the earliest days of his political career. For his part, Cruz steered clear of discussing abortion policy as much as possible, even as he cheered the demise of Roe in the days following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Did Ted Cruz win the election? Reports indicate that the incumbent was re-elected