Cruz, Allred trade barbs in heated Texas Senate debate: 'Extreme,' 'threat to democracy'
The Texas Senate debate between longtime Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Rep. Colin Allred was not without its share of name-calling and fiery exchanges in the state's first and only debate before the November election.
Abortion, immigration and transgender issues brought out the most contention between the two candidates.
While Cruz sought to destroy any attempt of Allred being portrayed as a moderate candidate by continually bringing up his voting record throughout the hour-long debate on Tuesday night, Allred painted Cruz as an "extremist" who opposes exceptions to abortions, like in instances of rape.
"You're not pro-life," Allred said to Cruz. "It's not pro-life to deny women care so long that they can't have children anymore. It's not pro-life to force a victim of rape to carry their rapist's baby."
Cruz, during his opening statement, said, "In Texas, we overwhelmingly support that parents should be notified and have to consent before their child gets an abortion."
"In Texas, we overwhelmingly agree that late-term abortions in the eighth and ninth months, that's too extreme, and I'll tell you, in Texas, we overwhelmingly agree that taxpayer money shouldn't pay for abortions," he added.
At one point during the squabble over abortion, one of the hosts, WFAA's Jason Whitely, repeatedly probed Cruz but did not do the same to Allred.
"Why is this an issue you won't address, about saying whether you support or oppose exceptions like rape or incest?" Whitely asked Cruz.
"Why do you keep asking me that?" Cruz shot back. "But yet I've asked Congressman Allred twice about his voting record and the fact that he voted to strike down Texas' parental notification law and parental consent law. You haven't asked him about that."
Cruz said during the debate he supports abortion being left up to each state.
TEXAS DEM'S SENATE AD FEATURES BORDER WALL HE ONCE BLASTED AS 'RACIST'
When it came to border security, Allred contended that Cruz voted against the bipartisan White House deal – which Republicans tanked, arguing it didn't actually address border security – earlier this year.
"In fact, he does worse than nothing when the toughest border security bill in a generation came up in the United States Senate, $20 billion for border security," Allred said. "And you know, listen, this is not this is a pattern for him. He's never there for us when we need him."
"He's voted against the border wall, not once, not twice, but three times, every single time there's a serious measure in the House to secure the border," Cruz responded. "Colin Allred is Kamala Harris. Their records are the same."
During another part of the debate, Allred recounted his experience during the Jan. 6 riot, and said, "You're a threat to democracy."
Regarding the issue of trans women competing in women's sports and sharing facilities – topics Cruz has targeted in several attack ads – Allred firmly reiterated that he does not support any of the "ridiculous things he's talking about."
To escape the hot seat, Allred redirected the issue back to abortion.
"But what he wants you thinking about is kids in bathrooms, so you're not thinking about women in hospitals, because it's indefensible," Allred said.
Cruz, the two-term Republican who has held the seat for the last 12 years, kept pinning his main point on Allred at every turn: "He said not a word about his own record."
In October 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law restricting transgender student athletes from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
Texas is one of 23 states with laws in place to prevent transgender inclusion in women's sports. In June 2023, Allred co-sponsored a bill that would require public schools to permit biological male student athletes who identify as transgender on girls' sports teams.
The Texas Senate race is a likely GOP win, according to the latest Fox News Power Rankings. The most recent Real Clear Politics polling average shows Cruz with a four-point lead in the race.
Fox News Digital's Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.