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Sen. Ted Cruz has won re-election to the Senate, NBC News projects, defeating his Democratic opponent Colin Allred in a hotly contested election and crushing Democrats’ hope of winning a statewide race in Texas for the first time since 1994.
Cruz’s win was far from certain. Allred mounted a fierce challenge against the senator, casting himself as a moderate in an effort to win over Republicans and independents turned off by Cruz’s MAGA leanings. He also hammered Cruz over his infamous vacation to Cancun in 2021 during a deadly winter storm, as well as his vote earlier this year against a bipartisan border security bill at Donald Trump’s behest.
Allred’s campaign had gained considerable momentum. Polls consistently showed a razor-thin margin between the two candidates in last months of the campaign, with Cruz ahead by only a few points. In early October, the Cook Political Report switched the race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican.” Cruz was also outraised by Allred all year, and national Democrats poured millions into a TV ad push on Allred’s behalf.
Cruz, on the other hand, tried to rebrand himself as a bipartisan legislator, in spite of his record. He argued that his Democratic opponent was a radical and sought to link Allred to Biden and Harris’ border policies.
Despite Cruz’s victory, that Allred was able to make the contest so close should be a cause for concern for Republicans. Cruz similarly survived his 2018 race against Beto O’Rourke by a mere 2.6 percentage points. Although Texas is far from a swing state, Democrats are hoping to chip away at the GOP’s stranglehold one election at a time and eventually turn the Lone Star State into a reliably purple battleground.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.