{child_flags:centerpiece}Q&A: Allred talks about bid for Cruz性视界传媒檚 Senate seat
{child_byline}Samuel Shaw{/child_byline}
Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred hopes to accomplish what Beto O性视界传媒橰ourke failed to do in 2018 by about 200,000 votes: defeat GOP U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
Allred has represented Congressional District 32 in eastern Dallas since 2019. The former professional football player (he played linebacker for five seasons for the Tennessee Titans), voting rights attorney and fourth-generation Texan announced his campaign in May.
Recent polling suggests the Nov. 5 election could be a nail-biter. Less than 3 points separate Cruz from Allred, according to an August survey by University of Houston性视界传媒檚 Hobby School of Public Affairs.
Allred recently sat down with the News-Journal to discuss his campaign, his East Texas tour and the issues he性视界传媒檇 prioritize as a U.S. senator.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity:
性视界传媒: So you性视界传媒檝e been touring East Texas for a few days talking to voters. How性视界传媒檚 your reception been in the Piney Woods?
Colin Allred: We had several events (Aug. 25) in Tyler and now in Marshall and Longview today (Aug. 26). We性视界传媒檝e had a great reception. These are all places where I性视界传媒檝e been before and have friends from. Obviously, I haven性视界传媒檛 had a chance to represent these folks yet because I represent a district in Dallas, but there性视界传媒檚 a universality to a lot of the issues facing Texans and to a lot of their concerns. And I think here in East Texas, it性视界传媒檚 not that dissimilar from what I性视界传媒檝e seen in the valley in Central Texas and North Texas: folks are fundamentally looking for someone on their side, and that性视界传媒檚 what I hope to be.
LNJ: You性视界传媒檙e going up against an incumbent in Cruz who性视界传媒檚 held his seat for over a decade. Was there anything you learned from Beto O性视界传媒橰ourke性视界传媒檚 almost defeat of Cruz in 2018 that you believe can pave the way for victory in November?
Allred: This is a very different election and it性视界传媒檚 a very different time. But you know, I think that what that election showed is how many Texans were looking for new leadership and a fresh approach. And so here we are, six years later, and I think the stakes have only gone up, because since then, the Dobbs decision has come down. We性视界传媒檙e experiencing what a near total ban on abortion looks like in Texas.
I just did an event two days ago in Dallas with women from all over Texas about their horrific experiences that they性视界传媒檝e had under this law. I think we性视界传媒檝e seen some of the extreme rhetoric of Ted Cruz from six years ago now become laws. We性视界传媒檙e seeing books being banned, people being targeted for how they identify, and I性视界传媒檓 a fourth-generation Texan, and I grew up in Dallas, raised by a single mom. My family性视界传媒檚 from Brownsville. I played football at Baylor. I have a pretty good idea who we are, and if there性视界传媒檚 one thing I know of us, is that we believe in freedom, and to me, freedom has been under attack, and particularly by folks like Ted Cruz. And so a lot has changed. But I think just like in that election, I think we性视界传媒檙e seeing so many folks who are looking for alternatives, and I just want to make sure that Texas know who I am, that I want to serve them and how I want to serve them.
LNJ: Would you say the shift in the political terrain since 2018 is an advantage for your campaign?
Allred: I think it性视界传媒檚 more about the extreme rhetoric. Someone like Ted Cruz has been calling for an abortion ban for over a decade. Now we see what that rhetoric looks like in actual practice. This is the culmination of 12 years of what Ted Cruz has done to our state. I have a very different view of our state, and I have a very different approach to serving.
I性视界传媒檓 the most bipartisan Texan in Congress. I work at that. It性视界传媒檚 something that I性视界传媒檝e made a priority, not because that性视界传媒檚 the end goal, but because that性视界传媒檚 the way that you get things done and pass legislation. I know especially from my athletic career that some of the differences that folks like Ted Cruz play on are not actually as prominent as we may think they are, and I believe that we have more in common than we disagree on. I want to bring us together as a state, and that性视界传媒檚 something that I have always tried to do with my time in Congress, which is what I性视界传媒檒l try and do in the Senate.
So in many ways, I性视界传媒檓 the opposite, as I see it, of Ted Cruz. This is not gonna be about the last election, this is going to be about who性视界传媒檚 going to serve us until 2030. It性视界传媒檚 a very important decision for Texans. It性视界传媒檚 going to have a long, far-reaching impact.
LNJ: Though migrant crossings have dropped sharply in recent months, immigration at the southern border consistently ranks as a top concern among Texans. What kind of legislation would you introduce or support to address concerns around the border?
Allred: My family性视界传媒檚 from Brownsville. My grandfather was a customs officer there after fighting with the Navy in the Pacific in World War II. That性视界传媒檚 where my mom and my aunt, her sister, were born and raised. I spent a lot of my childhood in Brownsville along the border. So what I get frustrated with is folks who use our border communities as a backdrop, like they性视界传媒檙e on a safari. They put on some outdoor clothes and come down to the border and point at migrants. Then they talk about all the problems, but they性视界传媒檙e never part of the solutions.
We have experienced a crisis. We had a record number of crossings in December 性视界传媒23. Ten thousand migrants a day is a crisis. You respond to that with smart policy and with resources, and we had a bipartisan bill in the Senate that no state would have benefited more than Texas. We have the largest section of the border. We also have the most crossings. The bill would have added more Border Patrol officers, more immigration judges, more CBP personnel, more technology, and also change the asylum standard to address what we were dealing with there, which was that about 90% of the folks who are coming to claim asylum at the southern border are going to be rejected. But It性视界传媒檚 going to take them six, seven, eight, maybe 10 years before they get that rejection because of the backlog that we have in our asylum claims. The asylum system is not set up to deal with these numbers, and it性视界传媒檚 also not set up to be an alternative to legal immigration United States.
To secure the border, we need to have the resources, the technology and the additional personnel. Physical barriers are also a component of that.
We also have to fix our broken legal immigration system, and comprehensive immigration reform is what we ultimately have to arrive at. I think every Texan knows that Ted Cruz will never be a part of that solution. In 2013, he helped take down President Obama性视界传媒檚 effort toward bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that would have had billions of dollars for additional border security. Then, just this year, he opposed another bipartisan effort just on the border security part. We can性视界传媒檛 just have a senator who only wants to point out the problems on the border. We have to have someone who wants to solve them. I性视界传媒檓 confident that, working with (Republican U.S. Sen.) John Cornyn, we will be able to do that. It性视界传媒檚 something we do have to address, but we have to do it in a way that性视界传媒檚 consistent with our values. We can have a secure border without it being inhumane.
My grandfather was someone who treated everyone well in Brownsville, and we性视界传媒檝e been a border state for as long as we性视界传媒檝e existed.
LNJ: Public schools are anchor institutions in East Texas and are supported by local leaders in both parties, yet many schools are struggling with inflation and staff retention. How would you support public schools as a U.S. senator?
Allred: I性视界传媒檓 only here because of public education in Texas. I went from pre-K through graduation at Dallas public schools. My mom taught for 27 years in Dallas public schools. My aunt, her sister, taught 25 years in Plano public schools. My grandmother taught in Brownsville public schools. I性视界传媒檓 a big believer in public education, particularly here in Texas.
I think East Texas has a long tradition of really great public schools that people probably don性视界传媒檛 realize outside of this area, how quality so many of the schools are and the folks that they性视界传媒檝e turned out. I know because I ran into them all at Baylor. They were my classmates, my teammates, and they were well prepared by the public education here in East Texas.
Many education decisions are made at the state and local level, and I think there性视界传媒檚 a lot that is good about that. You want to have the flexibility for your local school districts to be what you need in your community. But at the federal level, the best way I think we can help is with critical shortages, particularly with teachers. As the product of public educators here in Texas, I can tell you there性视界传媒檚 no more important component in a student性视界传媒檚 performance than the quality of their teacher. Every Texan can close their eyes and think of their favorite teacher who made a subject come to life for them, and who made them remember something that they probably wouldn性视界传媒檛 have otherwise, or learned something they probably wouldn性视界传媒檛 have otherwise. For me, it was my world history teacher in high school. I still remember the Spanish Armada came in 1588 because of him jumping on a desk.
We can help recruit and retain the best teacher workforce for the state and also for the country. To do that, we have to incentivize folks going into the profession. We have to help them in the early, tough years in the profession, so that we don性视界传媒檛 lose them. We lose many teachers early on in their career, and we have to make sure that when they retire, they can do so with dignity. We can also help provide assistance in terms of technology and making sure that our school districts have access to what they need. But fundamentally, this has to be done in conjunction with the state and local level.
And let性视界传媒檚 be clear, Ted Cruz has supported school vouchers. He性视界传媒檚 been one of the loudest proponents of it. This is something that folks tell me all the time. Depending on how big your town is, there may not even be a private school. (School vouchers) are not realistic for East Texas or for rural Texas in general. Funding is also a problem, even in our major cities. We性视界传媒檙e already facing a huge budget gap in the Dallas public school district that they性视界传媒檙e going to have to cover through cuts or through taxpayer bonds.
LNJ: Industrial pollution has an outsized impact on public health in East Texas. Your campaign has emphasized the need to support the fossil fuel industry in Texas while protecting the environment. How would you balance that industry support with concerns around toxic pollution?
Allred: I性视界传媒檝e got a 3-and 5-year-old. I want my kids to grow up and enjoy the Texas outdoors the way I did, but the path that I see us having to avoid is one where this need for energy and this need for industry eclipses our shared inheritance of a safe environment folks can enjoy.
This is something that we worked on in the Inflation Reduction Act. It had significant provisions around greenhouse gasses, mercury and other cancer-causing emissions, while trying to assist these producers in doing what they性视界传媒檙e doing, but in a cleaner way. That性视界传媒檚 the approach that I have often tried to take. But there are certain cases where you can only offer so much support in terms of helping a company clean up its act. There have to be certain standards they meet.
Fence-line communities by a facility are often our most vulnerable communities. They have to have an advocate who understands how to balance our need for energy and job creation with our need for safe communities; communities where kids can grow up and have a shot and aren性视界传媒檛 unfairly subjected to these toxins. That性视界传媒檚 a balance that I want to help lead in the Senate.
I have not seen any willingness at all from Sen. Cruz in terms of supporting fence-line communities.
I性视界传媒檝e met with these impacted communities in Corpus Christi and along the Gulf area. Regulation has to be done at the federal level because we know that the state level is not going to do it. I have very little confidence in our state regulators to do much. The Supreme Court性视界传媒檚 recent rulings have made it even more important that we have legislation that can be prescriptive enough that it can be enforced without it eternally being struck down or revised in court.
Specific to the concerns in East Texas, I think those fall into the category of things that should be directly regulated by the EPA. I recognize that with the challenges to the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, that this is going to be harder, but I want to be an advocate for these fence-line communities. I also want our industries to know I recognize that we have to have some of this energy production, but let性视界传媒檚 do it in as clean a way as possible, and let性视界传媒檚 make sure that when we do it 性视界传媒 and where mistakes are made 性视界传媒 there性视界传媒檚 compensation for the impacted communities.
LNJ: As the war in Gaza approaches the one-year mark, national polls show a majority of Americans in both parties now support a ceasefire. Back in December, you were reluctant to call for an unconditional ceasefire. What actions would you support now?
Allred: What I性视界传媒檝e always said is that we need to bring the hostages home and have an end to the conflict. What I think is sometimes lost in the conversation about the tragedy in Gaza is the fact that Hamas is still holding over 100 hostages, and that this has to be part of an agreement that has to be struck.
I性视界传媒檓 on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I性视界传媒檝e spent a lot of time in the region. I性视界传媒檝e met with Prime Minister Netanyahu several times. I am a supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship. I am not a supporter of his actions in Gaza性视界传媒 and the conflict as it性视界传媒檚 being pursued now is not in the interest of Israel either.
What we have to do is continue to put forward the plan for not only the end of this conflict, but what comes next. I do think that the (Biden) administration has done that. We性视界传媒檝e laid out a pretty detailed plan of how this conflict can come to an end, and also the beginning steps of what rebuilding and the pathway towards a two-state solution can be. But we are not the deciding party, unfortunately. Otherwise, I think this would have been settled already.
This involves a terrorist organization in Hamas who has an interest in increased civilian casualties and who hides among the civilian population, and part of their battle plan is that they性视界传媒檙e going to use civilians as a shield. We also have in Netanyahu and the current Israeli government folks who have not pursued the release of the hostages and the ending of the conflict with nearly as much effort as I would want to see.
What we need to do now is use every lever we have to try and encourage both of these parties to reach an agreement. We have more levers than just our aid that have to be used. This conflict has gone on far too long. There性视界传媒檚 no more practical military goal that Israel can achieve in Gaza and Hamas性视界传媒 ability to commit an Oct. 7 style attack has been completely decimated.
But let me be clear, some things that we provide to Israel are defensive in nature. For example, when there性视界传媒檚 rocket attacks from Hezbollah, some of our military aid goes to tools like the Iron Dome system that intercept attacks, save lives, and reduce the chance of escalation. Our priority has to be to provide Israel with what they need to be safe and secure. However, if we can create diplomatic pressure, or there are things that can be specifically withheld to influence this situation, we should try and apply that pressure. But It性视界传媒檚 not a straightforward situation where you withhold military aid and the conflict ends. This has to be a multi-faceted approach.
I want to see an independent and peaceful Palestinian state next to a stable, secure Jewish democratic state in Israel. That has to be the end goal. Right now, I think we性视界传媒檙e working every single day towards that. I性视界传媒檝e been a part of some of these discussions on the Foreign Affairs Committee, but fundamentally, we have to get these parties to agree to it. That means having the leaders in place who will reach the agreement and can execute it.
LNJ: Here性视界传媒檚 a softball. What性视界传媒檚 the best barbecue you性视界传媒檝e had in East Texas?
Allred: I haven性视界传媒檛 eaten barbecue out here yet, but I need to! I性视界传媒檒l tell you what though. If folks make it out to Waco, they should go to Vitek性视界传媒檚. It性视界传媒檚 a small little barbecue joint. They need to order the 性视界传媒.性视界传媒 Oh, and don性视界传媒檛 plan anything else the rest of the day. You will be laid way back.
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