HOUSTON — Former NFL player and current U.S. Rep. Colin Allred is hoping to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz come the 2024 election.
The Dallas representative will have a lot of work to do to defeat the incumbent Republican.
Congressman Allred is well-known in North Texas but less so in Houston.
He’s hoping to increase his name recognition and voter base by traveling the state and making sure the Houston area is part of his campaign plan.
Allred flipped his Dallas area seat from ‘red’ to ‘blue’ and is hoping to do it again, but this time to Cruz’ seat.
“My pitch is the same as it will be in the general election, which is that I'm the best person to beat Ted Cruz,” Allred said in an exclusive interview Friday.
He said he’s going to be able to win the seat by being a bi-partisan voice when it comes to crime and public safety and other issues important to Texans.
A spokesperson for Cruz's office gave us this statement in response to Allred's campaign:
"From the Panhandle, to West Texas, and all the way down to South Texas, Senator Cruz has visited every corner of the state. So while Colin Allred continues barking insults and peddling lies, Ted Cruz will continue doing what he does best -- working and delivering results for over 30 million Texans."
“I think we can find common sense solutions that are consistent with the Second Amendment to save lives,” he said.
The rising Democratic party star also said it’s important to find solutions to a border crisis.
“Border security has many elements to it - some of it is barriers in certain places where it’s better to funnel folks into a port of entry where they can be better processed,” he said. “But it’s also taking some of the burden off of our border patrol agents on the administrative side to allow them to actually do their job.”
When it comes to the Houston area economy, he believes the region’s oil and gas industry is important and necessary, but there should be a balance to respond to climate change.
“To me, it’s an all of the above approach. We need solar and wind, we’re also going to have oil and gas that’s a part of that - mix also nuclear to make sure that we can keep the lights on, yes, but do it in a responsible way,” Allred said.
The former NFL linebacker and Texas native says he’s prepared for a long campaign.
If Rep. Allred wins, he will be the first Black United States Senator from Texas.
But as of right now, he’s locked in a primary against candidates who are also making their pitch to be the one to retire Senator Cruz.
Uvalde state Senator Roland Gutierrez and Houston area native and political organizer Thierry Tchenko are also running in the Democratic field.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story referred to Rep. Allred as a state representative. He's a U.S. representative.