Colin Allred will run for Texas Senate seat

The former Democratic representative of Texas Colin Allred officially launched his campaign of the American Senate Tuesday morning in 2026 on Tuesday, entering what promises to be one of the most watched races in the cycle.

A former NFL secondary, Allred represented the Dallas region in the House for three mandates before putting an unsuccessful challenge to the Republican Senator Ted Cruz in 2024.

Until now, a large part of the early attention of the race in Texas has focused on the increasingly bitter republican primary, where General Prosecutor Ken Paxton – an agitated ally of President Trump disputes the longtime senator of GOP John Cornyn.

The 2026 race emerges as a key target for national democrats in the hope of extending their Senate card under the new Trump administration.

Democrats have long considered Texas as an enticing but elusive political terrain. Cruz 2018 and 2024 re -election campaigns ranked among the most expensive competitions in the country’s Senate, each race pulling more than $ 100 million in contributions. Cruz finally preceded the former representative Beto O’Rourke of 2.6 points in 2018 and beat Allred by 8.5 points in 2024.

Cornyn, on the other hand, appreciated more comfortable margins. He beat the Democrat MJ Hegar by 9.6 points in 2020 and won his re -election in 2014 by a commander of 27.2 points spread over the Democrat David Alameel.

However, some Democrats of Texas see signs of momentum and believe that the political environment in 2026 could finally break – especially if Paxton, which leads in the first primary polls, manages to overthrow Cornyn. Cornyn tried to capitalize on the risk, warning that an appointment to Paxton “would be catastrophic”.

Paxton was dismissed by the Texas House in 2023 on allegations of corruption but was acquitted by the State Senate. He was also previously under federal investigation for corruption, although the Ministry of Justice refused to continue accusations towards the end of the Biden administration.

In his campaign launch video, Allred has targeted his two potential republican opponents.

“I announce my candidacy for the American Senate to reduce costs and arrest corrupt politicians like John Cornyn and Ken Paxton to fuel the economy against the Texans who work hard,” he said.

The democratic domain could become crowded. O’Rourke and representative Joaquin Castro de San Antonio – a frank critic of immigration policies from the Trump administration – both envisaged offers. The retired astronaut, Terry Virts, officially entered the race last week, and other potential contenders include the representative of the progressive state James Talarico, a rising star on social networks with nearly 900,000 Tiktok subscribers.

However, the road to Democrats remains difficult. The party has not won a state -of -scale race in Texas since 1994, has not elected anyone to the American Senate of Texas since 1988 and carried the state for the last time in a presidential election in 1976.

Democratic hopes have largely rested on the continuous erosion of gop margins in the suburbs around Dallas and Houston. Although this suburban trend has persisted since 2018 since 2018, the Republicans have achieved gains elsewhere – especially in the Rio Grande -Grede valley, where Hispanic voters have changed on the right during recent cycles.

The Democrats aim to regain control of the congress in 2026, and although the room appeared at hand, the Senate card is a difficult ascent. The party defends key seats in swing states such as Georgia and Michigan and will have to extend the map in red or purple territory to have a chance by majority.

Beyond Texas, the Democrats also envisage a potential opening in Maine, where Republican senator Susan Collins has not confirmed her re-election plans. And in North Carolina, the republican senator Thom Tillis’ Superb decision not to ask for another term Will probably make the race even more competitive in the state of Tar Heel, a persistent battlefield.

Caroline Linton and Joe Walsh contributed to this report.