AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Former Texas congressman Colin Allred launched another run for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday after the Democrat’s challenge against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz last year broke records for spending but did not deliver his party the breakthrough it has sought for decades in the state.
This time, Allred is seeking the seat of Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who is facing a primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in what is likely to be one of the GOP’s most contentious contests in 2026.
Allred’s announcement comes just seven months after he lost by nearly 9 percentage points to Cruz. That race was one of the most expensive in the country last cycle, with Democrats spending more than $130 million trying to unseat Cruz.
A former NFL linebacker and attorney, Allred is the first high-profile Democrat to declare himself a candidate in the race that Democrats see as their best shot next year at ending a 30-year drought in statewide elections in Texas. Another former Democratic congressman, Beto O’Rourke, who came within 3 percentage points of defeating Cruz in 2018, also hasn’t ruled out a run.
In a video announcing his candidacy, Allred took aim at both Cornyn and Paxton and cast himself as a fighter for those struggling to get ahead.
“I get it. Real change might feel impossible,” Allred said. “But I’m not giving up.”
In response to the announcement, Paxton criticized Allred’s positions on immigration and LGBTQ issues.
“Texans have already rejected your liberal values once,” the attorney general said Tuesday on X. “Now it’s time for Texas voters to say no to your vision and values once more.”
Allred tried to position himself as a moderate in last year’s race and made protecting abortion rights a centerpiece of his campaign. His supporters included Texas women who had serious pregnancy complications after the state’s abortion ban took effect.
But his campaign drew criticism early on from some Democrats who grew restless with Allred’s strategy of not packing his schedule with raucous rallies or investing more in smaller corners of Texas, including cities along the border with Mexico.
In the end, Texas Democrats’ streak of losses in statewide races continued while Republicans kept making gains along the predominately Hispanic border with Mexico, which had long been a Democratic stronghold.
Allred played four seasons in the NFL, all with the Tennessee Titans, after being undrafted out of Baylor University. He entered Congress after flipping a Republican district in Dallas in 2018.
Former astronaut Terry Virts also entered the U.S. Senate race as a Democratic candidate.
Looming over the GOP primary between Cornyn and Paxton is whether and when President Donald Trump will make an endorsement. In April, Trump praised both candidates and said he would make a decision later.
