A Democratic super PAC is hitting the airwaves in Texas, looking to boost Rep. Colin Allred by focusing on abortion in his underdog but increasingly competitive race against GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.
Senate Majority PAC, the party’s main outside group involved in Senate races, is planning to spend $5 million on a TV ad buy across the Houston, Dallas and San Antonio media markets, according to ad spending figures shared first with NBC News.
The buy marks the first significant outside spending on TV to bolster Allred’s campaign in the Republican-leaning state, although Senate Majority PAC announced last week it was making a “multi-million dollar” investment in digital and radio ads in Texas. Democrats haven’t won a statewide race in Texas in 30 years, though they have forced some close contests in recent elections.
The group’s 30-second spot, which launches Friday, features an emergency physician named Nancy who says she has seen teenagers become pregnant after being raped and pregnant women with “severe complications.”
“Ted Cruz’s abortion ban makes it illegal for me to provide them care,” Nancy says in the ad. “I could never vote for Ted Cruz. Colin Allred will restore a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions.”
“Senator Ted Cruz is a danger to the people of Texas and that’s never more clear than with his support of a deadly abortion ban,” Senate Majority PAC president JB Poersch said in a statement. “In such an important election, Senate Majority PAC is determined to make sure Texans understand the choice facing them this November. That’s why we’re going on offense, so that in a few short months Texans can have a trusted, bipartisan senator in Colin Allred and can kick Cancún Cruz to the curb.”
Cruz, in a recent interview, tied Allred to Vice President Kamala Harris.
“My record and Colin Allred’s record are dramatically different,” Cruz said. “If you want to understand one thing about this race, Colin Allred is Kamala Harris.”
Democrats are pushing to hold onto their slim Senate majority, and an upset win in Texas could mitigate a loss in a red state, with endangered Democratic incumbents defending seats in Montana and Ohio.
Democrats have long projected optimism about making gains in Texas, with the GOP’s presidential margin shrinking in recent election cycles. Former President Donald Trump won Texas by 6 points in 2020, the party’s slimmest margin since 1996.
The state’s Republican lean and pricey media markets have made it difficult for Democrats to flip, but the party also views Cruz as uniquely vulnerable. Former Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke came within 3 points of defeating Cruz in 2018.
The abortion issue has already been in the forefront of Allred’s campaign, often criticizing Cruz for his previous support for abortion bans, and Cruz’s refusal to say whether he would support exceptions for rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother.
“He’s singularly responsible for this abortion ban here in Texas,” Allred said of Cruz in a recent interview with NBC News, referring to the state’s ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, which took effect after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
Allred has tried to cast Cruz as hyperpartisan and extreme, calling Cruz out for his support of objections to the 2020 election results and regularly reminding voters about Cruz’s vacation to Cancun during a historic winter storm that left millions of his constituents without power.
“He won’t even stand up to somebody who attacks his family. And so we know he won’t fight for ordinary Texans, and so this is a pretty clear divide here,” said Allred, who was first elected to the House in 2018. “I’m somebody who has bipartisan bona fides that are real over the course of six years, and versus Senator Cruz, who has been one of the most extreme senators, not just in this Senate, for the last 30 years.”
The investment by Democrats comes as Cruz has criticized Senate Republican leadership for not giving him resources in his re-election campaign. The Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC aligned with Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has yet to inject money into Texas, even after Cruz and his allies have pleaded with him to do so.
Since Labor Day, Democrats have spent a combined $57.2 million on ads in the race, almost entirely driven by Allred’s campaign, which has spent $44 million on ads alone, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Republicans, meanwhile, have spent $47.5 million, with Cruz’s campaign dropping $17.2 million on the airwaves. Cruz has had help from a supportive super PAC known as Truth and Courage PAC, which has spent $18.5 million on ads in the race, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact
Asked if it’s time for McConnell to invest in Texas, Cruz told NBC News on Monday, “Of course it is.”
“From the first time I ran, the national Democrats, the leadership, the Washington swamp, the lobbyists, they’ve never backed me,” Cruz said.
Cruz and McConnell have a tumultuous history in the Senate, particularly after Cruz called McConnell a “liar” on the Senate floor in 2015. McConnell also publicly disagreed with Cruz’s objections to the electoral vote count on Jan. 6, 2021, calling it a “totally irresponsible effort,” and calling Cruz and other senators advocating for the objections “grandstanders.”
While Cruz has sought to tie Allred to Harris, Allred is not distancing himself from the vice president. Harris will deviate from visits to the traditional battleground states and hold a rally with Allred in Houston on Friday, which is also expected to feature a performance by Beyonce.
“This is a very different choice than the presidential level,” Allred told NBC News, “And so to me, for every Texan, if you don’t want a senator who abandons you when you need the most, if you don’t want a senator wants to take away Medicare and Social Security, if you don’t want a senator who’s only focused on himself, then you know, I hope you can give me a chance as the alternative.”