Ted Cruz Challenger Gains Major Republican Endorsement in Tightening Texas Senate Race

Former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney has explained why she decided to endorse Democrat Colin Allred in the Texas Senate race over incumbent Ted Cruz, as she further drifts away from the party she represented until 2023.

"You can't trust Ted Cruz," said Cheney, who had already officially endorsed Allred earlier this month. More recently she gave an interview with the Democratic candidate, adding that the "choice for the people of Texas is just a very clear one," as the U.S. needs "serious people in office." "I know (Cruz) will say anything if it serves his own political purpose," she added in the interview with WFAA.

Cheney also made the headlines recently after endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris over Donald Trump and revealing that her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, had done so as well. "Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris," she announced in early September.

Going back to Allred, Cheney said that Ted Cruz winning another term would be "dangerous" and that she wants to "do everything I can to help ensure that the people of Texas elect Colin Allred." She added that even though they disagreed on several issues, the Democrat puts "the interest of the people of Texas first and foremost."

The endorsement comes at a critical time for the race, as the latest poll featured in FiveThirtyEight's aggregator shows Allred ahead of Cruz for the first time. Conducted by Morning Consult among 2,716 likely voters between September 9 and 18, it shows the Democratic representative ahead with 45% of the support compared to Cruz's 44%.

The poll marks a six point increase for Allred less than two months from the elections. The previous one featured in the mentioned website is also from Morning Consult and showed Allred trailing by five percentage points, 42% to Cruz's 47%.

Another recent poll by Texas Public Opinion Research (TPOR) provided additional insight on the state of the race. It measured both candidates and the average Texan when it comes to ideology, showing that Allred and Cruz are almost equally distant from their constituents.

In an ideology scale, where 0 represented the most conservative and 10 the most liberal, the average voter scored at 4.3, placing the electorate slightly right-of-center. Allred is rated at 6.8, which is 2.5 points more liberal than the average voter, and Cruz at 1.6— 2.7 points more conservative of the electorate.

The contest between Cruz and Allred emerged as one of a small handful of unexpectedly competitive in the high-stakes fight for the Senate this fall. Allred's entry to the race last year shifted Cook Political Report's rating of the Senate seat from "solid" Republican to "likely" Republican.

The candidates have have agreed to have a televised debate in October, the first such instance in a race that is increasingly close. Concretely, the debate will take place on October 15 at WFAA-TV's studio in Dallas. It will be moderated by WFAA's Jason Whitely and The Dallas Morning News' Gromer Jeffers Jr.