Ted Cruz opponent Colin Allred reduces gap in Texas Senate race, according to latest poll

Democratic Representative Colin Allred has narrowed the gap with Senator Ted Cruz in the Texas Senate race, according to a new poll, as he continues a campaign mostly focused on local issues rather and detached from national politics.

The study, conducted by Emerson College and The Hill among 845 likely voters between September 3 and 5, shows Allred trailing by four percentage points, 44% to Cruz's 48%.

While still behind, as all polls so far have shown, the figures are an improvement for the Democrat when compared to other recent ones. The three previous surveys showed Allred behind by between seven and 10 percentage points.

The only recent one where Allred was relatively close (two and four percentage points depending on whether a third party competed) had been commissioned by Clean and Prosperous America, a partisan sponsor associated with the Democratic party.

Allred has continued running a campaign that is different to that of most Democrats in the state and the national level, focusing on his bipartisan voting record and not focusing on the matchup between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

In a recent appearance at the Texas Tribune Festival, he criticized his own party for promoting what he described as unrealistic energy policies in the past and not cracking down on unlawful migration before.

"When you have a huge surge of migrants — we had a record number in December '23 — you have to identify the crisis and respond to it with smart policy resources and have that sense of urgency, and I didn't see that for some time in my party," Allred said.

However, Allred also focused on Cruz, whom he described as an "extremist," focusing on his opposition to a border security deal this year that would have allocated some $20 billion to that end. Cruz said he opposed the bill because it didn't go far enough. He and most other Republicans did so after Donald Trump publicly came out to oppose the deal, which had been negotiated by lawmakers from both parties.

In another passage of his allocution, Allred showed confidence in captivating disaffected Republicans, making reference to Liz Cheney's recent decision to endorse Kamala Harris and him as well. The lawmaker called his colleague a "patriot" and said: "She is a true conservative. She believes in the Constitution. She believes in the rule of law. She believes in accountability, and she knows that Ted Cruz is a threat to all of that, and so that's why I'm honored to have her support."