“Beto O’Rourke may be hitting the campaign trail in Texas again, signaling that if Texans want him to run for U.S. Senate in 2026, he ‘will’ take up the challenge that left him defeated in 2018,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
Said O’Rourke: “I’m going to do whatever is most helpful for the people of Texas… I’m going to do whatever is the greatest good for the greatest number in this state…Whatever I can do, wherever I’m helpful, that’s where I’m going to be.”
“Get ready for a blockbuster primary between Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2026,” Punchbowl News reports.
During a wide-ranging interview, Paxton “gave the clearest signs yet that he’s planning to challenge Cornyn in what could be one of the most expensive Senate primaries in history.”
Said Paxton: “I think I can win if I have $20 million. I’ve run these primaries in Texas before. I honestly don’t see how he overcomes his numbers.”
A new UT Tyler Poll finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) clinging to a two-point lead over challenger Colin Allred (D), 47% to 45%.
A new New York Times/Siena poll in Texas finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R) ahead of challenger Colin Allred (D), 50% to 46%.
A new internal poll for Allred shows the race tied, 46% to 46%.
“A Democratic super PAC is hitting the airwaves in Texas, looking to boost Rep. Colin Allred by focusing on abortion in his underdog but increasingly competitive race against GOP Sen. Ted Cruz,” NBC News reports.
“Senate Majority PAC, the party’s main outside group involved in Senate races, is planning to spend $5 million on a TV ad buy across the Houston, Dallas and San Antonio media markets.”
“As polls show his race tightening, Sen. Ted Cruz is lashing out at national Republicans for not doing more to help him in his battle against Democrat Colin Allred,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
“Cruz told Fox News he’s being massively outspent by Allred on the airwaves and couldn’t even afford to get his own ads on TV until three weeks ago. And he complained Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell hasn’t spent a penny on the race even though his PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, is sitting on millions of dollars meant to fight for a GOP majority.”
“So to every Texas woman at home and every Texas family watching this, understand that when Ted Cruz says he’s pro life, he doesn’t mean yours.
— Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), in his debate with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
A new Marist poll in Texas finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R) leading challenger Colin Allred (D), 51% to 46%.
A new New York Times/Siena poll finds Cruz leading Allred, 48% to 44%.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who is one of the preeminent critics in his party of Donald Trump, will lead a GOP group backing Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) in his drive to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the Texas Tribune reports.
The Cook Political Report moved its rating for the Texas Senate race from Likely Republican to Lean Republican as Democrats are making a “multimillon dollar investment” in the race.
“Facing a tight re-election race, hardline Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is now claiming that he’s a bipartisan champion of reaching across the aisle,” Politico reports.
Said Cruz: “What is new is not that I’m passing bipartisan legislation that helps produce jobs in Texas. I’ve been doing that since the day I arrived in the Senate. What is new is we’re finally getting the press to report on it.”
A new Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation poll in Texas finds Ted Cruz (R) just ahead of Colin Allred (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 45%.
A new University of Houston/Texas Southern University poll finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) leading challenger Colin Allred (D) by just three points in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 44%.
The survey echoes a Manhattan Institute poll released earlier this month that showed Cruz leading, 46% to 43%.
In the presidential race, Donald Trump leads Joe Biden by nine points.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said Friday he will certainly run for reelection, a decision that could put him on a collision course with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in 2026,” the Dallas Morning News reports.
Wall Street Journal: “How this plays with voters could be crucial to whether the polarizing lawmaker wins a third term, as Republicans try to take back the Senate, where Democrats currently have a 51-49 majority. Cruz, who leads his Democratic rival, Rep. Colin Allred, in opinion polls, is trying to keep his core conservative base while also bolstering it with suburban swing voters, playing up legislative accomplishments on state issues and a sweeping air-travel bill, among others.”
“It is a tack he hasn’t taken in previous campaigns. Democrats, who have long used Cruz as a hyperpartisan punchline, say the new pitch won’t work.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has made a name for himself as an uncompromising conservative stalwart, is testing the waters with a rebrand that he works well with Democrats, the Texas Tribune reports.
Said Cruz: “I actually have very good relationships with many of my colleagues across the aisle.”
He specifically cited his work with Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar, noting “all three are friends.”
“A few weeks ago, very few Democrats were thinking about the Senate campaigns in Florida and Texas, the only credible offensive targets for the party in 2024,” The Messenger reports.
“Then West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin retired, all but guaranteeing Democrats will lose the seat next year.”
“That decision has ratcheted up the pressure and expected attention on the two top Democratic campaigns in Florida and Texas. Assuming Democrats lose West Virginia, the party will either need to protect all of its incumbents – including two in states that have elected Republicans to most other statewide positions – or oust Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas or Sen. Rick Scott in Florida to keep hold of the Senate in 2024.”
Fox News: “Cruz’s haul is up from the $4.4 million he raised during the April-June second quarter of fundraising and the $1.8 million he brought in during the first three months of 2023.”
Cruz’s campaign has more than $6.7 million cash on hand.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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