Like the run for the presidency, the 2024 Texas Senate elections continue to show a shift in the political landscape. The two frontrunners in the 2024 race for senate are Republican incumbent Ted Cruz who leads his Democratic opponent Rep. Colin Allred by 4 points. Analysts say while Cruz remains a slight favorite over his Democratic counterpart, Allred remains a formidable contender.
According to a new poll from the University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler), Cruz led Allred with 43 percent, compared to the representative’s 39 percent among registered voters. Five percent of those polled said they would support Libertarian Ted Brown, and 10 percent said they were undecided.
Cruz and Allred remain strong on key issues that outline their campaign initiatives.
On Friday, Cruz made news when an amicus brief he and 17 other senators filed led to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court. The court’s recent ruling cuts back sharply on the power federal agencies now have to interpret the laws they administer. The ruling will place the duty of interpretation of ambiguous laws back in the court’s hands.
On July 1, Ted Cruz posted on X saying, “The Supreme Court delivered a massive win for the Constitution by agreeing with my amicus brief and overruling Chevron deference. This great decision restores our constitutional separation of powers and delivers a devastating blow to the deep state.”
Thursday night’s Presidential debate proved to be a rough moment for Democrats. President Joe Biden’s debate performance against former President Donald Trump teetered on dismal, and has caused some concerns for party candidates including Colin Allred.
Allred has championed his views on key issues including abortion and restoring reproductive freedom in Texas.
“Let’s be clear, Ted Cruz’s long-standing support for an extreme ban on abortion which is now threatening IVF is why we are here,” said Allred in a statement.“Cruz brags about his long record of working to take away reproductive freedom, including supporting extreme personhood legislation and opposing exceptions for rape, incest, and unviable pregnancies. When I am in the Senate, I will fight for Texans’ freedom, and against this extremist ban that has gone way too far.”
Issues on Texans’ Minds
Texas voters were polled to see what issues ranked highest on their list. Inflation came up as a top priority, with 18% of those polled saying it was a foremost concern. The economy and political corruption remained the top three national concerns.
Border security and immigration were both issues identified by voters as being key in their decisions when it was time to cast their vote.
One-third of Texans polled believed that Texas spends too little on border security. Presently, the state allocates more than $11 billion in taxpayer money to Operation Lone Star, where Texas deploys state guard members and law enforcement to maintain border security efforts, a problem they feel stems from negligence from the Biden administration.
Texas’s Diverse Community
In this year’s senate election, candidates must appeal to a broad range of voters with different views on a variety of issues. Candidates can either use their stance on these key issues to polarize voters or drive them away, and be a determining factor in the outcome of this race.
Issues that made news in 2023, will continue to be hotly debated in 2024 including vouchers, border security, abortion, school choice, and school safety.
The presidential election along with the race for Texas state’s representatives, U.S. house, and other federal, state and local official seats will be an opportunity for voters to see how leaders plan to address the issues at hand.
While issues such as school vouchers and border security drew attention throughout the year, others, like the turmoil at Texas A&M University, made national news.
Here’s a recap of the top issues to watch in the 2024 Texas Senate Race:
- Vouchers and school choice
- Immigration and border security
- Abortion
- School safety
- Houston ISD takeover
- LGBTQ+ rights
