In Colin Allred, Ted Cruz once again facing a well-funded Democratic challenger in reelection fight
CNN
On a sunny October afternoon, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz posed for photos with supporters next to his campaign bus in downtown Waxahachie – a historic square complete with quaint shops and a storied, almost mythical-looking courthouse.
On a sunny October afternoon, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz posed for photos with supporters next to his campaign bus in downtown Waxahachie – a historic square complete with quaint shops and a storied, almost mythical-looking courthouse. The city is the seat of conservative Ellis County, directly south of Dallas and named after one of the leaders who helped Texas declare its independence from Mexico in 1836. Cruz had just delivered a fiery speech in an old playhouse across the street called the Texas Theater, where he rallied the crowd with red-meat rhetoric and jokes appealing to the state’s unique sense of pride. “We were founded by a bunch of wildcatters,” he said onstage in jeans and boots. “A bunch of guys with fourth-grade educations who began drilling holes in the ground and one after the other became the richest men on Earth. That’s Texas! Texas is: Give me an open field and a horse and a gun, and I can conquer the world.” Ranked one of the most conservative senators, Cruz’s bid for a third term should be a smooth ride in a place that has consistently elected Republicans in statewide contests for the past 30 years. But for the second election in a row, Cruz finds himself fighting to keep his seat against a well-funded Democrat. Rep. Colin Allred is a former NFL linebacker and civil rights lawyer who ousted a Republican for a US House seat six years ago. He’s now challenging Cruz and painting the incumbent senator as an unlikeable politician who cares more about podcasting than about legislating. Recent polls suggest a tightening race, one reminiscent of when Democrat Beto O’Rourke lost to Cruz in 2018 by less than 3 percentage points in a campaign that caught the country’s attention. National Democratic groups are again investing heavily in TV ads, stirring up an all-too-familiar hope they can pull off a massive upset, though many remain skeptical.
Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.
Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.
Young Americans are “a generation under profound strain” with little confidence in institutions and widespread economic concerns, according to a Harvard Institute of Politics survey of adults younger than 30 released Thursday.
As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.
The murder trial of Brian Walshe, who is accused of killing and dismembering his wife in 2023 continues. Follow for live updates.
The FBI arrested a person Thursday who investigators believe planted pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the 2021 US Capitol riot.
Lawyers for the New York attorney general’s office are expected to appear in federal court in Albany on Thursday to try to disqualify a US attorney from investigating the state’s civil case against President Donald Trump.
A new poll shows more than 70% of Republicans with Obamacare coverage don’t want their enhanced premium subsidies to expire.
A safety volunteer accused of fatally shooting a man taking part in a “No Kings” protest last June in Salt Lake City while firing at another man he believed to be a potential mass shooter has been charged with manslaughter, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
The specter of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown looms over the Somali diaspora in the Twin Cities – home to the nation’s largest Somali population.
Honduras’ former President Juan Orlando Hernández thanked US President Donald Trump for pardoning his US drug trafficking conviction amid criticism from lawmakers that the pardon undermines the White House’s efforts to stop drug trafficking.
President Donald Trump’s name has been installed on the building and signage around the US Institute of Peace (USIP) – an independent agency that the administration gutted earlier this year.
President Donald Trump issued a “full and unconditional pardon” for Oak View Group co-founder Tim Leiweke, who was indicted by the president’s own Justice Department earlier this year, according to a document released online.