Texas’ largest newspaper gives 'bipartisan' Cruz challenger glowing endorsement

21 October 2024

During the 1990s and 2000s, Republicans typically enjoyed double-digit victories in statewide races in Texas.

The late Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), for example, carried Texas by roughly 12 percent in 2008. Four years later, 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney defeated then-President Barack Obama by almost 16 percent in the Lone Star State.

But in 2018, incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) defeated Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke by only 2 percent. And in 2024, Cruz has been warning fellow Republicans that a victory by Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) cannot be ruled out. A Morning Consult poll released on October 17 found Cruz ahead of Allred by only 1 percent.

In a front-page editorial published on Sunday, October 20, Allred picked up an endorsement from the Dallas Morning Herald — which, according to Muck Rack, is Texas' largest daily newspaper (Muck Rack lists the Houston Chronicle as the second largest).

The editorial criticized Cruz for promoting "the politics of division," noting that he "could have supported the peaceful transfer of power in the 2020 presidential election" but didn't.

The Dallas Morning Herald's editorial board wrote, "He instead was the first senator to rise in objection to certifying the electoral vote and one of just six to do so. His actions were a catalyst for what became one of the worst days in our nation's history."

The day the Dallas Morning Herald was referring to was January 6, 2021, which found a mob of Donald Trump supporters violently attacking the U.S. Capitol Building in the hope of preventing Congress from certifying now-President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

The editorial praised Allred's willingness to work with Republicans, arguing that the Texas congressman has "demonstrated over time that both the words and action of bipartisanship matter to him."

Costas Panagopoulos, who teaches political science at Northeastern University in Boston, believes that the Texas Senate race is very much in play for Allred.

According to Panagopoulos, recent polls "suggest the race is tied or even that Allred may be ahead."

Panagopoulos told Newsweek, "Texas voters have had reservations about Ted Cruz for years. He only squeaked by narrowly to win reelection in 2018."

Read the Dallas Morning News' full editorial at this link (subscription required) and Newsweek's coverage here.

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