Ted Cruz has won another six years in the Senate . The conservative incumbent, who was seeking reelection for this third term in Congress, held off Democratic Rep. Colin Allred , whose insurgent campaign shook the nerves of Senate Republicans who couldn’t afford to lose a seat in deep-red Texas .
The contest between Cruz and Allred, a former NFL linebacker, became a late target for Democrats, as polls began to show a tight race that offered the party a slim chance to retain their narrow control of the Senate, amid a difficult 2024 election map. Cruz has long been despised by liberals, and is also unpopular among Republican leaders. Democrats poured money into the Texas Senate race in 2018 and failed to unseat Cruz, though he only won by 2.
6 percent against Beto O’Rourke. Texas gained close to 3 million new voters since Cruz last ran for office in 2018, leading to a level of uncertainty about his bid for a third term. In 2016, Cruz was booed at the Republican National Convention for declining to endorse Donald Trump .
Trump had insulted Cruz’s wife’s appearance and said that Cruz’s father helped in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Cruz has since fallen in line and become an advocate for Trump.
The former president endorsed Cruz at an October rally in Austin, offering him his “complete and total endorsement.” As the race tightened, Cruz received major support from Republican Super PACs, billionaires, and dark money donors. According to The Wall Street Journal.
