Colin Allred running against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn

Here we go again.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas-area Democrat who fell 8.5 points shy of unseating U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz last year, revealed Tuesday that he’s running again for a spot in the upper chamber. This time, he’s targeting U.S. Sen. John Cornyn.

In an online announcement, the civil rights attorney and former NFL linebacker targeted kitchen table issues and big money in politics, calling out his Republican rivals as political insiders beholden to corporate interests.

“Texans are working harder than ever, not getting as much time with their kids, missing those special moments, all to be able to afford less,” Allred said. “And the people that we elected to help – politicians like John Cornyn and [Texas Attorney General] Ken Paxton – are too corrupt to care about us and too weak to fight for us. I know Washington is broken. The system is rigged. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In six years in Congress, I never took a dime of corporate PAC money, never traded a single stock. Never had a hint of scandal.” Allred is the first high-profile Democrat to formally announce a bid for Cornyn’s office, but others have suggested they’re considering a run. Those include former El Paso congressman and one-time gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio and Texas Rep. James Talarico of Austin. Former astronaut Terry Virts has also announced he’s running as a Democrat.

The potentially crowded 2026 primary could spell trouble for Democrats, who haven’t held a statewide elected office in Texas since 1994.

However, many are heartened by the prospect that Paxton — who’s popular with Republican primary voters but comes with baggage including a Texas House impeachment and a variety of legal scandals — could win the GOP nomination but be unpalatable in the general. The midterms are also expected to be a referendum on President Donald Trump, whose approval rating has been consistently underwater.

Early polling shows Allred beating Paxton by a single percentage point in a head-to-head run, Politico reports. However, those same surveys show Allred trailing Cornyn by six points, suggesting this cycle could be a replay of the North Texas congressman’s disappointing 2024 run against Cruz.

In Tuesday’s announcement, Allred said over the coming months his campaign will reveal a series of plans to reduce costs for Texas families. The first of those will be an anti-corruption plan.

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This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 9, 2025.