Ted Cruz and Colin Allred Agree to Debate as Texas Race Tightens Ahead of Senate Elections

Texas senatorial candidates Ted Cruz and Colin Allred 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.

It comes 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 latest rhetorical clash between the two involved Republicans rolling out a new wave of television ads this fall targeting Texas Democrats for supporting pro-LGBTQ+ legislation. The ads have been labeled as misleading by the Democratic candidates, who argue that these attacks are a distraction from their key legislative priorities.

Two ads from Cruz targeting his Democratic counterpart claim that Allred supports policies allowing men to use women's restrooms and participate in "girls' sports." The ads also suggest that Allred doesn't "know the difference between boys and girls."

Allred's campaign responded forcefully, calling the accusations "disgusting, false attacks" and accusing Cruz of using the issue to distract voters. "Ted Cruz will say anything to distract from his dangerous abortion ban that is putting women's lives at risk," said Josh Stewart, an Allred spokesperson, in a statement.