Former NFL player Colin Allred, who pulled off a major upset in 2018 by ousting an entrenched Republican incumbent for his House seat, is reportedly considering a run against Senator Ted Cruz in Texas.
Politico reports that two sources have indicated Allred has been quietly prepping for a run against Cruz for months.
Allred, a Democrat who also worked as an Obama administration official, shocked observers when, as a political novice in 2018, he defeated Republican Pete Sessions in Texas’ 32nd Congressional District, a seat Sessions had held for over two decades.
Sessions would later run for and win in the 17th Congressional District in 2020.
Allred successfully defended the seat twice since his victory over Sessions and it was considered safely Democratic for as long as he wanted it due to redistricting in 2020.
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, is set to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for reelection in 2024 and could announce his campaign within days.
The former NFL player and civil rights lawyer has been a rising Democratic star in Congress. https://t.co/F7eaTJbvgM
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) May 1, 2023
Colin Allred Will Try Channelling His Inner Beto to Defeat Ted Cruz
Both Politico and the Dallas Morning News have indicated Colin Allred will announce his bid against Ted Cruz as early as this week.
He is considered a rising star in the Democrat Party. In fact, so much so that Politico is comparing his political ambitions to those of Beto O’Rourke.
Allred, they write, is an “NFL player turned civil rights attorney” who is “walking a path that helped make former Rep. Beto O’Rourke a national name.”
Nay, O’Rourke made himself a national name by disgracing himself via live-streaming a dental appointment, dressing up in a sheep mask and onesie for a punk rock performance, and crashing a press conference updating the public on an elementary school shooting.
Rep. Colin Allred: Was J6 an act of Domestic Terrorism?
Fmr. FBI Agent: “It was an act of lawlessness, there was a lot of property destroyed and there were crimes committed by trespassing, I don’t know if that rises to the level of terrorism.”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 9, 2023
Is He Doomed to Fail?
If making a national name with nothing to show for it and giving up a safe Democrat seat in the House only to lose to Ted Cruz is what you’re going for then yea, Allred should definitely take the O’Rourke political path.
O’Rourke became a rare Triple Crown champion this past election, falling to Texas Governor Greg Abbott by double digits. That loss meant he had lost races for the Senate, presidency, and governorship all within the previous four years.
He spent roughly $140 million combined to lose to Abbott in 2022 and Senator Ted Cruz in 2018.
“Allred may well follow O’Rourke’s model,” Politico writes.
After all, even though O’Rourke lost to Cruz in 2018, he “developed a national profile that he parlayed into” … “an unsuccessful 2020 presidential run.”
Not the most impressive of parlays. That’s a long route to follow to come to the conclusion that Beto was a perpetual loser. Is that really the path Allred wants to take?
“The Trump presidency was like a stress test for our systems, and we found where there were gaps or things that need to be clarified.”
Rep. Colin Allred on the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, which was included in the omnibus government funding bill. https://t.co/RP0tBAdeHu pic.twitter.com/LiONTYc04f
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 30, 2022
No doubt, Colin Allred will build his campaign against Ted Cruz as a fight for democracy, as he’s long been a believer that the January 6th, 2021 riot at the Capitol was an act of terrorism.
“Whatever happens, I love you,” he texted to his wife that day, describing the riot as “harrowing” and indicating he had “prepared for the worst.”
He has promoted the ‘big lie’ that police officers were killed during the riot.
And, when Brazilians stormed their Congress earlier this year, Allred blamed Trump, who had not been in office for nearly two years, for the ‘fascism’ we were seeing.
Fascism & political violence are contagious. Like Trump, Bolsonaro has refused to accept Brazil’s election results & has placed himself above his country with disastrous effects. We must stamp out this anti-democratic movement in the US & around the world. https://t.co/aXtUL3Dqyr
— Rep. Colin Allred (@RepColinAllred) January 8, 2023
Indeed, he has all the Squad-level talking points primed and loaded in his likely bid against Ted Cruz. He’s got the same path as Beto O’Rourke lined up.
And when the Senate race is said and done, he’ll be sitting at home watching Cruz be sworn in yet again.
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