Ted Cruz and Colin Allred's Intense Texas Debate: Five Key Takeaways

Texas Senate rivals Ted Cruz and Colin Allred clashed in their only election debate Tuesday over a range of issues, including abortion, whether transgender athletes pose a threat to women's sports and the April 6 Capitol riots . January 2021.

Allred, a former NFL player who currently represents Texas' 32nd Congressional District in the House of Representatives, is hoping to unseat Cruz, who has held a seat in the Texas Senate since 2013.

Republicans want to take control of the Senate in November, which is currently dominated by a razor-thin majority of 51 Democratic-leaning senators to the GOP's 49. Democrats are widely expected to lose the West Virginia seat currently held by Joe Manchin, which would be offset by a surprise victory in Texas.

Recent polls suggest Allred is within notable reach. Politico reported this week that a poll from the GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund (SLP) had Cruz ahead by just one percentage point in October, compared to three points in September. In better news for Cruz, a Marist poll of 1,186 likely Texas voters conducted Oct. 3-7 showed the Republican ahead by 5 points, with 51 percent of the vote versus 46 percent.

Appearing Monday on Sean Hannity's Fox News show, Cruz said he was “viciously outperformed” by Allred, which raised $30.3 million in the third quarter of 2024.

In conversation with Newsweek Of Tuesday's debate, a Cruz campaign spokesman said: “The only thing that's surprising about the outcome of this debate is that Colin Allred's pants didn't go up in flames because of how much he lied on stage.”

“Senator Cruz laid out his record that has brought countless jobs to Texas, supported law enforcement, protected our children and more. When Colin Allred wasn’t lying, he was dodging questions and throwing meaningless attacks.”

Allred was contacted by for comment Newsweek by email on Wednesday outside of regular office hours.

Newsweek has prepared a summary of the five key takeaways from Tuesday's debate:

It got personal

The debate turned personal at times when Allred accused Cruz of “hiding in a supply closet” during the storming of Congress by Donald Trump supporters on January 6, 2021, to block Joe Biden's election victory.

The Texas Democrat also traveled to Cruz in 2021 to travel to Cancun, Mexico, while Texas was hit by a winter storm that left millions without power.

Cruz hit back, urging viewers to visit a website detailing his rival's “radical record” and claiming the “far left” is “so angry right now, there's so much hate.”

Transgender athletes

Cruz and Allred clashed over the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports. The Republican commented: “Congressman Allred was an NFL linebacker. It’s not fair for a man to compete against women.”

Allred responded, “I don't support boys playing girls' sports,” before claiming that it was “ridiculous” for Cruz to claim he was “the protector of women and girls,” as he “finds it perfectly reasonable for a girl is raped.” by a relative of hers, a victim of incest, that she should be forced to carry and give birth to the child.

abortion

Cruz was forced on the defensive over abortion, arguably his weakest issue, after the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature passed a law in 2021 banning abortions after six weeks.

The senator framed the issue as a state's rights issue, commenting: “You wouldn't expect Texas laws to be the same as California laws. You wouldn’t expect Alabama to be the same as New York.”

Allred hit back, saying, “I can't imagine the doctor coming in and saying, 'So there's a problem with the baby… but I can't do anything because Ted Cruz thinks he knows better.'”

He added: “Every Texas family who sees this needs to understand that when Ted Cruz says he's pro-life, he doesn't mean yours.”

Threat to democracy

Allred criticized Cruz for refusing to certify Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election and argued he was partly responsible for the riots on Capitol Hill on January 6.

He said: “You cannot be for the January 6 mob and for the officers. You can't do that. And it’s not funny because you’re a threat to democracy.”

Cruz responded by saying Allred's voting record in Congress was extreme and comparing it to that of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Cruz remains close to Trump

Cruz praised his close working relationship with Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee who branded him “lying Ted” as they battled for the GOP's 2016 White House nomination.

He said: “When Donald Trump was president, I worked hand-in-hand with President Trump to secure the border and we achieved incredible success.”

Later in a discussion about foreign policy, Cruz commented: “When President Trump was president, I urged him to move our embassy to Jerusalem, he did that…When President Trump was president, I urged him to get out of the disastrous To withdraw Iran’s nuclear program.” Deal, that’s what he did.

On Monday, Trump enthusiastically praised Cruz via his Truth Social website, saying the senator had “done a great job representing the great people of Texas.”