Ted Cruz Expands His Lead Over Colin Allred Less Than a Month From Texas' Senate Race

Ted Cruz has widened his lead over Colin Allred in the latest survey heading into the Texas Senate elections as the time to go to the polls is less than a month away.

The study, conducted by the Marist College, surveyed both likely and registered voters between October 3 and 7. The former shows the Republican ahead by five percentage points, 51% to the Democratic Rep.'s 46%.

The latter, in turn, has Allred trailing by three percentage points, 47% to Cruz's 50%. It is the same gap registered by two polls from the Florida Atlantic University PolCom Lab and Mainstreet Research.

The one that surveyed 811 registered voters between October 2 and 6 showed Cruz with 46% of the support compared to Allred's 43%, while the one among 775 likely voters had both with an additional percentage point of support.

Allred has been making inroads, raising more than $30 million over the last three months and outpacing Cruz's $21 million. Both candidates have raised $132 million collectively since the start of the race, which is expected to be one of the most expensive Texas Senate races in the Lone Star state's history.

Allred has so far outpaced Cruz in every quarter. His campaign reported collecting 1.8 million individual contributions and $68.7 million in total receipts since its launch, along with contributions from 252 of Texas' 254 counties and an average donation of $36.57. In the press release announcing Allred's third-quarter fundraising results, campaign manager Paige Hutchinson voiced confidence less than a month from the elections, saying "This November, Colin Allred will send Ted Cruz packing for good."

While fundraising totals are positive indicators of overall support, they weren't enough in the 2018 Texas Senate Race, as then-Rep. Beto O'Rourke vastly outraised Cruz and then lost with 48.3 percent of the vote to Cruz's 50.9 percent.

Another positive indicator came in early October, when the Cook Political Report, one of the major independent, non-partisan elections and campaign analysis organizations, shifted the hotly-contested Senate race from "Likely Republican" to "Leaning Republican," signifying a close contest in the once-comfortable GOP territory.

Jessica Taylor, the forecaster's Senate and gubernatorial editor, said Allred's fundraising and ad spending, coupled with Cruz being on defense on abortion and a trip the senator took to Cancun during a severe winter storm in 2021, have helped Democrats in the state.