Colin Allred responds to comparisons with Beto O’Rourke’s campaign, defends his strategy

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U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, the Dallas Democrat challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for his seat in Congress, defended Saturday his campaign’s focus on targeted advertisements and moderate policy, drawing criticism from some Democrats who have expressed more faith in the county-by-county barnstorming approach of Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 campaign.

Speaking at The Texas Tribune Festival with The Bulwark’s Tim Miller, Allred’s comments were in response to a recent assessment by O’Rourke that Allred should have “more unscripted moments, more connecting with people.” O’Rourke famously visited all 254 counties in Texas in his 2018 challenge against Cruz with vivacious, profanity-laden, progressive messages. O’Rourke came within 3 percentage points of beating Cruz.

Allred has run a more traditional campaign, focusing on targeted advertising buys in Texas’s biggest media markets. He and other Texas Democrats are running a coordinated campaign across the ballot to share resources. He has also held small events throughout the state, but not on the geographic scale as O’Rourke.

“We’ve got a great state and a massive state, and last month, we've done 50 stops in 22 cities,” Allred said. “We also have to have resources to make sure we communicate in the biggest media markets in the country, and also in markets in places that are completely siloed from each other.”

Allred said “it is a challenge in terms of making sure you can get the message out” due to the state’s size.

“What happens in Houston, nobody knows about Dallas, by and large. What happens in Austin, it's unknown to El Paso,” Allred said.

Allred has also differentiated himself from O’Rourke by highlighting his bipartisan voting record, which sometimes has been at odds with his own party. During his Saturday talk, Allred criticized Democrats for promoting unrealistic energy policy in the past and not taking illegal border crossings more seriously earlier on.

“When you have a huge surge of migrants — we had a record number in December ‘23 — you have to identify the crisis and respond to it with smart policy resources and have that sense of urgency, and I didn’t see that for some time in my party,” Allred said. “I felt like there was maybe an idea that what was being said on Fox News can't be true.”

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He also criticized the Biden administration for limiting liquefied natural gas exports, which he argued would help Western Europe as it tries to wean off of Russian gas.

But despite his differences with his party, he reserved his harshest criticisms for Cruz, whom he blasted as an “extremist.” He cited Cruz’s opposition to a bipartisan Senate border deal that included over $20 billion for border security and cut the number of migrants permitted to enter the U.S. between the country’s ports of entry. Cruz said he objected to the bill because it didn’t go far enough. He pushed instead for a House-passed Republican border package that Democrats said was too draconian.

Allred believes he can gain the support of Republicans who are disaffected by their party under former President Donald Trump. Responding to a recent endorsement by former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, Allred called her a “patriot”.

“She is a true conservative. She believes in the Constitution. She believes in the rule of law. She believes in accountability, and she knows that Ted Cruz is a threat to all of that, and so that's why I'm honored to have her support,” Allred said.

Allred said conservatives throughout the state with similar views would be welcome in his coalition. His district includes Highland Park and other affluent North Texas communities that have traditionally been strongholds for the Republican Party. Former President George W. Bush is a constituent.

“I want everyone out there in Texas who feels like they are conservative, and they believe in those things … but they're somebody who feels like they don't see themselves reflected in this version of the Republican Party,” Allred said. “They're welcome here. They're welcome in our coalition. I want to have their support in this campaign, but also to represent them in the Senate.”

As The Texas Tribune's signature event of the year, The Texas Tribune Festival brings Texans closer to politics, policy and the day’s news from Texas and beyond. Browse on-demand recordings and catch up on the biggest headlines from Festival events at the Tribune’s Festival news page.