HOUSTON — It's is hard to miss the barrage of campaign ads in the race between Congressman Colin Allred and Senator Ted Cruz. Polls show a surprisingly tight race. We sat with Cruz to get his take on some of the issues, and about the one trip that still haunts him.
Senator Cruz is fighting for his political life. He's in the midst of a statewide bus tour, visiting 52 locations starting in Fort Bend County, where he was sounding like a preacher at a revival.
"The Democrats, they have set their target on Texas, and they want Texas," he told the crowd. "Well, I'm here to tell you, you can't have."
But for the past three years, he has taken criticism for leaving Texas during the devastating winter freeze in 2021.
"You can't seem to shake the trip to Cancun. Does it bother you?" we asked.
"Oh, listen. It bothers me that they're Texans that believed that it said that I didn't care," he said. "I'll tell you what I did. I did one trip with my daughters to the beach. And it seems that folks on the left loved to scream about it."
Cruz believes what really matters to voters are issues like border security and jobs.
"Why is it that we have 1,000 people a day coming to Texas? The number one reason is Texas is where the jobs are," he said.
But he is perhaps most passionate about the border, blasting Congressman Allred for supporting what he calls open border policies. Yet, Cruz voted against a bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.
"You said the bipartisan security bill was no good," we said.
"It was a terrible," he said.
"So what do you propose?"
"What I propose is H.R. 2, which is the legislation I introduced, which is the toughest border security legislation ever introduced. It ends catch and release. It ends sanctuary cities. It cuts off the money for sanctuary cities. And you know what? Colin Allred voted no."
Then the debate over so-called culture wars, like abortion and LGBTQ rights. Cruz supported ending Roe v Wade, saying he supports life. But campaign ads by Allred feature Texas women calling Cruz's position on abortion radical. The Texas abortion ban makes no exceptions for rape or incest.
"Are you okay with no exception for rape and incest in the state of Texas?" we asked him.
"Well, that's a question the state legislatures get to decide," he said.
"What does Ted Cruz think?"
"I think it is up to the voters of Texas to decide," said.
"What do you think?"
"I recognize that you don't like that answer," Cruz said.
"I'm trying to get an answer."
"I have given you an answer," he said.
On November 5, Texas voters will give their answer. Will Allred become the first Democrat to win statewide office in 30 years or will Cruz return to Washington for a third term?
Senator Cruz told me he's never met Congressman Allred, but that changes when they debate next Tuesday, October 15 at 7 p.m. You can watch it on KHOU 11. We reached out to Allred campaign. We hope to sit down with him sometime before the election.