Ted Cruz and Colin Allred clash over abortion, trans athletes and Jan. 6 in feisty Texas Senate debate

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Rep. Colin Allred traded quippy one-liners and clashed over coverage Tuesday at their first and solely debate in a Texas Senate race debate that each candidates agree is up for grabs.

Cruz offered himself as a conservative who “will battle to maintain Texas Texas,” whereas Allred forged Cruz as a do-nothing extremist who has not delivered for the state in his 12 years within the Senate.

“When the lights went out within the power capital of the world, he went to Cancún. On Jan. 6, when a mob was storming the Capitol, he was hiding a provide closet. And when the hardest border safety invoice in a era got here up in the USA Senate, he took it down,” Allred mentioned, repeatedly mentioning Cruz’s journey to Mexico throughout a 2021 winter storm in Texas. “We don’t must have a senator like this.”

Cruz appeared bemused by Allred’s zingers.

“Congressman Allred has memorized his traces properly,” he mentioned with a smile, saying there’s “distinction between phrases and actions.” Cruz mentioned Allred’s “phrases sound good” however don’t match his voting file.

Whereas Cruz has the benefit in Texas, a Republican stronghold, polling exhibits the race is shut: Cruz leads by 4 factors in a College of Houston ballot and by 5 factors in a latest Marist School ballot.

Democrats management 51 Senate seats. They’re all however sure to lose in deep-red West Virginia and are trailing in latest polls of Montana. If these two seats change fingers to the Republican Occasion, Democrats will face lengthy odds of conserving management of the chamber. Some Democrats see a tantalizing alternative in Texas for an upset victory due to Cruz’s polarizing picture.

Cruz has sounded the alarm in regards to the race, warning that his victory isn’t assured and that he wants extra assets to safe it.

Cruz went on offense over power and blamed Democrats for inflation. He grew significantly animated when he attacked Allred on the difficulty of transgender athletes, saying Allred has backed measures that would result in boys’ taking part in in ladies’ sports activities.

“Congressman Allred was an NFL linebacker. It’s not honest for a person to compete towards girls,” Cruz mentioned.

“I don’t assist boys taking part in ladies’ sports activities,” Allred replied, calling it “laughable” for Cruz to current himself as “the protector of ladies and ladies” when he “thinks it’s completely cheap that if a woman is raped by a relative of hers, a sufferer of incest, that she ought to be pressured to hold that youngster to time period and provides delivery to it.”

Allred used his opening remarks to name himself “probably the most bipartisan Texan in Congress” and mentioned he’s “the precise reverse of Sen. Cruz, probably the most excessive senator,” who he mentioned is “solely centered on himself.”

Allred mentioned Cruz has sought to “transition” his picture from a radical to an inexpensive senator for the election whereas additionally in search of to press his benefits on well being care and abortion. He vowed to assist laws that might restore the rights of Roe v. Wade.

Cruz, who’s staunchly anti-abortion, didn’t instantly say whether or not he favors exceptions for rape and incest, whereas he sought to melt his rhetoric on the difficulty and mentioned abortion legislation in Texas ought to be “a choice that might be made by the state Legislature.” He mentioned Democrats’ assist for a sweeping abortion-rights measure with out restrictions was the actual extremist place within the debate.

Cruz, requested whether or not he’d assist pardoning rioters who stormed the U.S Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sidestepped and mentioned he favors prosecuting criminals, additionally invoking “the antifa and Black Lives Matter riots that burned cities throughout this nation.”

Allred, wanting instantly at Cruz as he criticized his objections to certifying the 2020 election, mentioned: “You’re a menace to democracy.”