HOUSTON — Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL player who broke with his party over President Joe Biden’s handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, won his Senate primary to propel an underdog campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Allred fended off his biggest Democratic challenger, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who became an outspoken voice for stricter gun laws after the Uvalde school shooting and courted the party’s left wing.
Cruz, who faced no major primary opponent, officially locked up the GOP nomination for a third term Tuesday.
Allred, 40, has cast himself as a bipartisan bridge-builder in deeply red Texas while looking ahead to a November matchup with Cruz. One of the most dramatic examples of the Dallas congressman rebuffing fellow Democrats came in January, when he signed onto a Republican resolution criticizing the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
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Allred advances to a tall task: trying to become the first Texas Democrat in 30 years to win a statewide race. If elected, he would be Texas’ first Black senator.
Cruz’s last reelection ended in a narrow victory against Beto O’Rourke in 2018 during a strong year for Democrats nationally.
More on Colin Allred
Allred is the son of a school teacher and single mom who raised him in Dallas.
He played football for the Baylor Bears and was picked up by the Tennessee Titans after going undrafted.
After five years in the NFL, Allred got his law degree and became a civil rights attorney.
Allred served in the Obama Administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
As a political newcomer, Allred pulled off an upset of Rep. Pete Sessions in 2018 who had spent more than two decades in Congress.
Allred sat down with KHOU 11 News in an exclusive interview over the weekend and explained why he believes he's the best person to go head-to-head with Cruz.
"I think he's a threat to the state I know. He's been one of the most divisive Senators in the country," Allred told us. "He's spent his time in the Senate pitting us against each other. I've spent my time in Congress bringing us together."
The moderate Democrat believes abortion rights will mobilize voters at the polls and he's pledging to codify Roe v. Wade if elected to the Senate.
Allred and his wife Aly have two sons.