Senate Democrats announced Thursday they are spending millions to defeat Ted Cruz in Texas and Rick Scott in Florida, where polls have shown the incumbents surprisingly vulnerable.
“Senate Democrats are expanding the map and going on offense,” said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Senator Gary Peters. The Michigan Democrat had previously said the party was eyeing the seats for pickup but noted that both states are expensive to campaign in.
In Texas, Representative Colin Allred, a former NFL linebacker, has turned the race into a nailbiter, raising tens of millions from Democrats eager to defeat the polarizing Cruz. And in Florida, former Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has been running close to Scott.
The pivot comes as Democrats need to score an upset to retain control of the Senate, given the precarious position of Montana Senator Jon Tester, who is trailing Tim Sheehy in polls. Democrats are also all but certain to lose a seat in West Virginia and are on defense in most of the other battleground states.
Steve Daines of Montana, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has repeatedly dismissed the Democrats’ chances in both Texas and Florida, though Cruz in particular has issued many dire warnings on social media and in email fund-raising appeals about close polls and Allred’s massive fundraising. A Morning Consult poll showed Allred with a 1-point lead last week, within the margin of error, but most other polls have shown Cruz with a narrow edge.
Six years ago, Cruz beat Beto O’Rourke, who had nearly doubled the incumbent’s fundraising, by less than 3 points.
Democrats in both states are dinging the incumbents for opposing a restoration of abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Cruz has sought to tar Allred as a radical tied to the Biden administration on issues like border security. Allred, for his part, has slammed Cruz for his widely-mocked trip to Cancun when the state faced a power crisis in 2021.
Scott, a two-term governor, former health care CEO and longtime ally of Donald Trump, won his seat by a razor-thin margin in 2018 after spending tens of millions of his own fortune. Scott has to contend with ballot initiatives on abortion rights and marijuana legalization, which Democrats think could help Mucarsel-Powell turn out supporters.
Last modified: September 26, 2024
