Allred is turning to black voters in his latest attempt to oust Cruz

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In the final days of his arduous bid for the U.S. Senate, the Dallas congressman Colin Allred is working overtime to lock down the backbone of the Democratic Party: black voters.

Over the past five days, Allred has been trying to unseat an incumbent Republican Ted Cruzhe campaigned in Houston with Vice President Kamala Harris, the party’s presidential nominee; Beyoncé, international pop star from Houston; and Raphael Warnock, Georgia’s first black senator.

On Tuesday night, Allred capped off a five-day trip through Houston with a rally at Texas Southern University, a historically black college, where he was introduced by Warnock, who rose to prominence as senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s former congregation.

Allred portrayed Cruz as an absentee senator who fled the state for Cancun while millions of people suffered in the winter freeze of 2021. He criticized Cruz for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and for supporting policies that he said led to the near-total abortion ban in Texas.

Allred’s rally was also there Samantha Casianoa Texas woman who, according to doctors, had to give birth to a baby who, according to doctors, would not survive more than a day due to a rare and fatal disease that prevents the baby’s brain and skull from forming properly. Her daughter lived just four hours after birth.

“We have a senator who is too small for our state and we have a week to do something about it,” Allred told the crowd of several hundred, as speakers encouraged attendees to participate in block walks and phone banks. “We need to be sure we can get the vote out.”

Allred is the underdog in the race against Cruz, a two-term Republican senator, in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office in 30 years. So his hopes of making the race competitive rest on matching the core of the Democratic base, a large portion of which is black voters.

Je’Von Tone, a 22-year-old campus student, said he had been waiting for Allred to visit the university since the beginning of the campaign. He was thrilled that Allred brought Warnock with him and appealed to Black and young voters.

“This race is going to be very, very close, especially for people in my age group because we usually have the lowest turnout,” Tone said. “So he’s going to make every effort to stop anywhere he can get to: schools, church, homes, walks around the block, phone banking and any get-out-the-vote effort he can.”

While in Houston, Allred shared the stage with Harris and Beyoncé at Friday’s event at Shell Energy Stadium, which was attended by over 20,000 people; hosted the 10,000 Black Men of Greater Houston rally on Saturday; and chaired a roundtable with black business leaders on Tuesday.

These recent events have shown the urgency of organizing Allred’s campaign, which has flown under the radar for much of the race and tried to attract the attention of moderate GOP and independent voters. Now his campaign is mounting a full-court press to pick out the Democratic base.

Candice Matthews, chairwoman of the Texas Black Democratic Coalition, said Allred has been in contact with her group throughout the race and has a good reputation among black voters. But coming to Texas Southern was a strategically smart move, she said.

“It’s a great step, coming to an HBCU and showing students that they matter,” she said.

She’Deja Martin, a 20-year-old student who attended the rally, said she wanted to learn more about Allred. She planned to vote for him because she didn’t like Cruz, but said she found out about the Democratic candidate last week. She thought Allred staying at school would help him around the other students.

“(But) it could have helped to come a little earlier because a lot of people had already voted,” she said.

In recent days, Allred has begun appealing more openly to black voters. Last week, in a fundraising text to supporters, he noted that he would be the state’s first black senator and said that “Black Americans have long faced far too many obstacles, including discrimination and racist laws restricting voting, that Texas Republicans like Ted Cruz stand for.”

During a roundtable with Black business leaders, Allred was joined by former City Council member Dwight Boykins and a state senator. Borris Miles Houston, who represents a majority African American district. Miles offered his help in the final days of the election.

“We are just in the fight,” he said. “We’re trying to get you across the line.”

Boykins said Allred visited Houston at a key time. Most voters are still deciding who they will vote for, and their choice in the Senate race will likely be consistent with their choice in the presidential election. Running Allred’s TV ads and visiting major cities will help him get name recognition among voters making this decision.

“I think his name is strong enough in the ads he’s running and credible enough to get him to where he’s trying to get,” Boykins said.

Also on Tuesday, Allred held a roundtable with women impacted by the state’s near-total abortion ban and their doctors, during which he promised to codify Roe v. Wade if elected.

Allred will travel to the Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday, where he will try to drum up support from another key base for his party: Latino voters.

Disclosure: Texas Southern University – Barbara Jordan-Mickey The Leland School of Public Affairs is a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by contributions from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in Trybuna’s journalism. Find a set their list here.