Democratic Rep. Colin Allred of Texas, who is challenging GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in the Republican-leaning state this fall, has released a new ad promising to address the border crisis. Allred, a former NFL player and civil rights attorney representing the northeast Dallas area, previously dismissed the issue as a “right-wing echo chamber” just two years ago.
In February 2022, Allred commented that the border was not a top-of-mind issue for most voters in Dallas, despite a sharp increase in encounters with migrants at the US-Mexico border during the same month. The surge was part of a larger trend in 2022, with a record 2.4 million migrant encounters compared to 1.15 million during the Trump administration’s highest year.
Although Allred initially downplayed the political importance of the border, recent polls show that Texas voters are increasingly concerned about immigration and border security. A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll in April revealed that a significant majority of Texas voters see migrants crossing the border as a crisis or a very serious problem.
Allred is now spending at least $380,000 on an online ad focused on the border issue in his campaign against Cruz. In the ad, Allred highlights the flood of fentanyl into the country and the need to address border security. He pledges to confront cartels and uphold American values while standing up to political extremists.
In response to the ad, Allred’s campaign spokesperson emphasized his bipartisan efforts to fix the immigration system and secure the border. Allred has toughened his stance on border and immigration enforcement in preparation for the statewide election in November. He joined a Democratic-led border security task force and supported a border security bill that was killed by Republicans earlier this year.
Despite his previous opposition to a border wall, Allred praised the Biden administration’s decision to construct new sections of the wall at the US-Mexico border in October 2023, calling it a necessary step to support overwhelmed border communities.
