Rep. Colin Allred clinches Texas Democratic nomination to challenge US Sen. Ted Cruz

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, the former pro football linebacker who six years ago knocked off an entrenched Texas Republican to capture a Dallas-area seat in Congress, vaulted to an outright victory in Tuesday's Democratic U.S. Senate primary and set the political chessboard for the coming showdown against two-term GOP incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz.

Allred bested a field of nine candidates and avoided a potentially expensive runoff with his nearest rival, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio. And the Dallas congressman, who during the primary campaign boasted about his willingness to seek bipartisan cooperation, embraced what he hopes will be a unifying call to give Texas Democrats their first statewide victory in more than a generation.

"We know that we can win with a campaign that draws on our history as Texans and charts a new and better path forward," Allred said in his victory speech Tuesday night in Dallas. "We're going to work together to build a movement of Democrats and independents and Republicans that will defend our freedoms, fights for our democracy, makes sure we have an economy that works for everyone, that secures our border consistent with our values, and we're going to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again."

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 reversed the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. Democrats in Texas and around the country have used that 2022 high court ruling as a mobilizing force that they hope will pay off at the ballot box this year.

Cruz, who easily dispensed with two comparatively unknown challengers on the GOP side Tuesday, also opened the coming matchup for the Nov. 5 general election by reaching across the political divide. He posted a montage on X, formerly Twitter, of self-identified Democrats who said they planned to vote for his reelection to a third six-year term.

"Liberty is not partisan," Cruz wrote. "I am proud to welcome the support of Democrats across the Lone Star State who have placed their trust in me to continue leading the fight for jobs, opportunities, and security.

The Democratic Senate primary was considered the top statewide contest in this year's primary campaign. The races at top of the Texas ballots for both parties were all but foregone conclusions as Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump both waltzed to easy wins.

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Though it was a crowded field, most of the attention in the Democratic Senate race centered on Allred and Gutierrez, both political veterans and officeholders. But it was Allred who emerged as the establishment favorite, entering the race first and snapping up the backing of Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer of New York, accepting a $5,000 contribution from the top senator's leadership political action committee.

Gutierrez, meanwhile, spent much of 2023 focused on his legislative duties in Austin and entered the race after Allred had begun laying his groundwork. Gutierrez said he was spurred to run for the U.S. Senate after the May 24, 2022, deadly mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, the South Texas community of about 15,000 that laid to rest 19 children and two adults. Uvalde is in Gutierrez's state Senate district, and banning the sale of military-style rifles was among the issues he most passionately advocated for in the Legislature and during his campaign.

Speaking to supporters in San Antonio, Gutierrez remained upbeat Tuesday night as he conceded the race to Allred.

"I stopped crying about elections a long time ago," he said. "You won't see me cry over that spilled milk. We've got a fight still left to go in this state. We have to make sure we do that."

Invoking the Uvalde families who lost loved ones in the mass shooting, several of whom joined him as he spoke, and the need for gun control reforms, Gutierrez added: "But I cry every day over their children. That's a conversation we need to have."

Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, said Allred was wise to campaign as the inevitable Democratic nominee and deprive his rivals of any share of the spotlight.

"Colin Allred has been running a front-runner's campaign, which is what he should be doing, and as much as possible, ignoring his opponents or the fact that they exist," Henson said.

The 40-year-old Allred, a onetime standout linebacker for Baylor University who went on to play for the Tennessee Titans in the NFL, earned his law degree from the University of California at Berkley after leaving pro football in 2011. Eight years later, he toppled 22-year Republican congressional veteran Pete Sessions by about 6 percentage points.

Gutierrez, 53, has two years remaining in his term in the state Senate, where he has served since 2021. Before then, he spent 13 years in the Texas House. Serving in the Legislature is considered part time, as lawmakers meet for about five months every other year, and Gutierrez earns his living as an immigration lawyer.

Most of the money in the Democratic Senate primary landed with Allred. As of Feb. 14, the Federal Elections Commission's most recent reporting date, Allred had raised $21.4 million since launching his Senate bid last year and spent $12.9 million.

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Allred has $8.5 million in his campaign war chest, which is more than the $6.76 million Cruz has available. In the final three months of 2023, Allred out-raised Cruz $4.8 million to $3.4 million, according to campaign finance reports.

Gutierrez, although coming in second in Democratic fundraising, lagged far behind Allred. He brought in $1.3 million as of Feb. 14 and spent all but about $155,000.

The last time Cruz was up for reelection, he narrowly eked out a victory, but his fundraising lagged far behind that of former Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso. O'Rourke hauled in $80.3 million during the campaign cycle compared with Cruz's $38.9 million. It proved to be the most expensive U.S. Senate race in history through 2018, though several races in the 2020 and 2022 cycles — all of them in states smaller than Texas — have obliterated that record.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas elections: Allred wins Democratic nomination to challenge Cruz