In another blow to Republican Senator Ted Cruz, Texas’ biggest newspaper has endorsed his Democratic opponent, Rep. Colin Allred.
Cruz is facing Allred, a three-term congressman from Dallas, in a closely watched race that could determine which party wins control of the U.S. Senate.
Democrats see Texas as one of the party’s best chances to pick up a Senate seat in November, while Cruz has urged Republicans to take Texas seriously as polls suggest the race could be competitive.
The Dallas Morning News, the state’s top newspaper by daily circulation, endorsed Allred in a front-page editorial on Sunday.
“We looked not only at their actions but also listened to their words, and, after doing so, we recommend voters cast their ballots for Allred in the coming election,” the newspaper’s editorial board said.
Allred has also been endorsed by the Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The Morning News‘ editorial heavily criticized Cruz, saying that he has “long embraced the politics of division” and on items of crucial importance to the country, he “digs in the most partisan mode possible, making no room for common ground.”
The Cruz and Allred campaigns have been contacted for comment via email.
The editorial noted Cruz’s opposition to the bipartisan border deal, the CHIPs and Science Act, and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—all of which Allred supported.
It also criticized Cruz for his support of former President Donald Trump‘s efforts to overturn President Joe Biden‘s 2020 victory.
Cruz “could have supported the peaceful transfer of power in the 2020 presidential election,” it said. “He instead was the first senator to rise in objection to certifying the electoral vote and one of just six to do so. His actions were a catalyst for what became one of the worst days in our nation’s history.”
The editorial cited Allred’s record of bipartisanship, saying he has “demonstrated over time that both the words and action of bipartisanship matter to him.”
It also noted that the Common Ground Committee has twice named him the most bipartisan member of Congress and that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has “singled him out for bipartisan work.”
Allred “speaks and acts in ways that demonstrate he is willing to treat differences as things we overcome, rather than root in,” it said. “And on the most important issues we face, he is willing to compromise in the name of solutions and moving forward together. For that reason, we think he is the better choice.”
Recent polls show Cruz leading by between one and seven points in Texas, where voters have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office in 30 years. An ActiVote survey of 400 likely voters between October 1 and 16 had Cruz leading Allred by 5.6 percent. However, the survey has a 4.9 percent margin of error. Other recent polls show a closer race—a Morning Consult poll of 2,048 likely voters, conducted between October 6 and 15, had Cruz ahead by just one point.
“Texas voters have had reservations about Ted Cruz for years,” Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University, previously told Newsweek. “He only squeaked by narrowly to win re-election in 2018.”
Panagopoulos said recent polls “suggest the race is tied or even that Allred may be ahead.”
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