Colin Allred Wins Democratic Contest to Take On Senator Ted Cruz in Texas

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

Representative Colin Allred, a Dallas-area Democrat who defeated an incumbent Republican in 2018 to gain his congressional seat, won the Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, emerging on top of a crowded field seeking to challenge Senator Ted Cruz.

“I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be your nominee to be the next senator from the great state of Texas,” Mr. Allred, a civil rights lawyer and former N.F.L. linebacker, told his supporters Tuesday night.

State Senator Roland Gutierrez, who had been trailing by a wide margin in early returns, conceded the race mid-evening on Tuesday and thanked his supporters, many of whom were families of those killed in a mass shooting at a school in the small city of Uvalde in 2022.

Mr. Allred, 40, presented himself during the campaign as an across-the-aisle politician with a working-class upbringing who could appeal to a wide range of voters. But he faces steep odds in the general election: No Democrat has won a statewide office in Texas since the 1990s.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/03/05/us/elections/results-texas-primary.html

[JohnSJ]

1. Great. I wonder if any Democrat has a chance in a statewide election in today's Texas?

[jimfields33]

2. I don't know but 1.9 million voted for cruz.

590,000 voted for Allred. We need to get more to vote.

[ananda]

4. There were a LOT of names on the list with Allred.

Now he's by himself, different story.

[brooklynite]

5. Look at the aggregate votes:

Dem candidates: 951,588
Rep candidates: 2,233,107

[jimfields33]

7. There were for cruz side to which was about the same number of votes

Which is why I didn’t include them.

[TwilightZone]

8. There's no link between the primaries and the GE.

It's a myth that won't die. They're two very different groups of people.

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/272381-the-truth-about-primary-voter-turnout/

In Texas, it's even more clear that there's no link.

Example: In 2008, almost 2.9 million Texans voted in the Democratic primary while Republicans drew only 1.4 million. McCain won the state 55-44.

https://www.texastribune.org/2018/01/29/analysis-texas-politics-size-matters/

We have a turnout problem in Texas, but it's nowhere near the 3:1 ratio from this year's primary. We can use it as motivation, of course, but it's meaningless in relation to the GE.

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. Being a lifelong Texan

The thing that gets Texans to vote in the primaries is contested races. If there is a clear front runner, many shrug it off. Worth noting that Trump only got 78% of the GOP vote. The fact that 22% of the Republicans voted for "not Trump" looks good to me.

[ananda]

3. Hurray!

I think he has a shot!

[republianmushroom]

6. Good, now do it, kick his butt.

[LudwigPastorius]

9. Last election Cruz beat O'Rourke by 219,000 votes.

Allred can get that many votes simply by not saying that he's going to confiscate guns.

Whether he can garner all of O'Rourke's 2018 voters remains to be seen.

[hamsterjill]

10. Cruz will win.

I’m sorry for the negativity but just being realistic. I’m a Texan and Texas is a lost cause. There are too many idiots down here who don’t want change. They believe what they are told by their pastors and by Faux News. Allred is in a mixed marriage, too, and they will be a complete turnoff for all of the racists down here. Again, not the way I think, but it is reality down here and should not be overlooked.

Until someone can capitalize on the Hispanic votes in an effective way, we are stuck with the sonofabitch who is Ted Cruz. Wish things were different but I’m tired of being disappointed.