In a poll released last month, Cruz holds a five-point leader over Democratic Congressman Colin Allred. The University of Texas at Tyler poll found that 42% of registered voters would support the Republican incumbent in 2024, while 37% would back Allred, a former player for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. Another 7% of those surveyed said they would support someone else, while 14% were unsure.
Nearly half of those polled said they didn't know enough about the congressman from Dallas; and other Democrats are expected to run.
Cathie Adams is a former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. She expects the Democrats will be prepared to put a lot money into the campaign after Cruz narrowly won re-election in 2018 against Democrat Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke.
"Money, as we know, is the milk of politics – and when that much money is being raised against him [Cruz], there is reason for concern," she tells AFN. "But as far as the people in Texas are concerned right now, Ted Cruz is the best U.S. senator that we've got and we want to keep him."
As for the senator's 2018 campaign, Adams says Cruz received some bad advice.
"His last election was very poorly run," says the GOP activist. "There was a consultant who thought Oh, you won so overwhelmingly you'd win again – and you don't really have to work at this. You can just walk across the finish line. That was bad advice."
But Adams predicts 2024 is going to be different. "Senator Cruz is up for this fight. I am 100% behind him, and I think most Texans are as well," she says. "It's going to be an exciting race."
The Hill predicts it could also be one of the most expensive Senate races next year. The same article also quotes a Texas-based Republican strategist explaining that the two most important issues in the state – the border and the economy – aren't really "Democratic issues." So Allred, according to that strategist, has not only got a "math problem" in the historically red state, he's also got an "issue problem."
