US Rep. Colin Allred began October by campaigning across Texas, including a stop in San Antonio to meet with volunteers staffing a phone bank on Oct. 3. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Exactly a month from election day, Colin Allred held a rally at Tulips FTW where a Republican former Tarrant County judge offered his support.
Exactly a month from November’s election, US Rep. Colin Allred rallied with hundreds of supporters in Fort Worth on Saturday.
“There’s something more important than your partisan identity this election,” Allred told the crowd at Tulips FTW.
“Your state and your country are more important, and that’s what this election is about. It’s about restoring faith in who we are, and ensuring we have a Senator who cares about all 30 million of us, not just about himself,” the Democrat from Dallas added.
A Democrat hasn’t won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, but polling shows that Allred is closing in on US Sen. Ted Cruz’s lead. Several Republicans are breaking from their party to endorse the Democratic nominee, prompting Allred to recently launch the Republicans for Allred coalition. Allred has leaned into support from diverse coalitions, including Hispanic voters and Black Texans for Allred.
At Saturday’s rally, Glen Whitley — a Republican and former Tarrant County judge from 2007 to 2022 — announced he’s endorsing Allred’s campaign for Senate. This marks the second time he has supported a Democrat for statewide office, after endorsing Mike Collier for lieutenant governor in 2022.
Whitley cited Cruz’s “total lack of character” when he fled Texas and went to Cancún during the 2021 winter storm that left millions of Texans without power for several days. He also lauded Allred’s bipartisan work on immigration.
“I want to support someone who I know is going to work for a team,” Whitley said.
Whitley also criticized Cruz’s support for not certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election as the US Capitol was being overrun during the insurrection on Jan 6., 2021.
“Ted Cruz attacked the foundation of our democracy,” Allred said about the insurrection. “He’d gone around the country lying about the election, knowing that he was lying. He summoned that mob to the United States Capitol.”
“And if you summon a mob, you have to lose your job. If you attack our democracy, you have to lose your job. And if when we need you most you go off to Cancún, you have to lose your job,” Allred added.
Allred and Cruz will debate live Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. at WFAA’s studios in downtown Dallas.
