Adam Kinzinger leads the Republican group for Colin Allred

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune's daily newsletter keeping readers up to date on Texas' most important news.

Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who is one of the most prominent critics in his party of former President Donald Trump, will lead a GOP group supporting U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, in his effort to U.S. Senator Ted to unseat Cruz.

Allred's Republican chairmanship will be Kinzinger, a former congressman from Illinois who later moved to Texas and has sharply criticized Trump's transformation of the GOP, an Allred campaign spokesman confirmed.

The group is co-chaired by former state Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, according to a news release Thursday. Other members include former Dallas Mayor and U.S. Rep. Steve Bartlett, former state Rep. and Texas House Elections Committee Chairman Todd Smith, former Rep. Alan Steelman, former state Rep. Bennett Ratliff and Marc Sumerlin, former deputy director of the National Economic Council under President George W. Bush.

“This is a serious attempt to reach out to Republicans,” Kinzinger said. “You'll see other people saying, 'Look, we're going to put aside petty differences because we actually believe in this country and what it stands for, just like Colin does and unlike Ted Cruz.'”

Kinzinger, who spoke during prime time at the Democratic National Convention in August, gained national prominence for his service on the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

In 2022, Kinzinger withdrew his re-election bid after his district was eliminated in a revised Illinois congressional map.

The Republicans for Allred campaign reinforces Allred's attempt to attract independents and more moderate Republicans – voters he needs to beat Cruz. Kinzinger's push for Allred represents the latest high-profile crossover for the Dallas Democrat after former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney endorsed Allred last month.

Recent polls show Cruz with a slim lead, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report on Tuesday upgrading the Texas Senate race from “likely” to “lean” Republican.

Cruz has also received bipartisan support, winning the support of Democratic Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg as well as several Democratic district judges, sheriffs and police officers.

In a statement, Cruz's campaign dismissed the group Republicans for Allred as “another fake feel-good vanity project for Allred.”

“Adam Kinzinger's attempt to restart his political career in Texas is not news,” Cruz's campaign said. “You need look no further than co-chair Adam Kinzinger, a disgruntled former congressman who rages vindictively against anyone with an 'R' next to their name, to know how deeply disingenuous and pathetic this is.”

Cruz had been doubting the results of the 2020 election for weeks before the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Just as Trump's supporters breached the Capitol, Cruz was on the Senate floor protesting the certification of Arizona's ballots.

Kinzinger, who supported Vice President Kamala Harris for president, was one of the few Republicans to denounce their party's election denial.

“If one day the Democratic Party decided to go off the rails, much like the GOP did, I guarantee you that he would say like Adam Kinzinger or Liz Cheney that it can't happen,” he told The Houston of Allred Chronicle. who initially reported that he would run the GOP group for Allred.