Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) is preparing to announce he will run for the U.S. Senate in Texas as early as this week, according to reports.
The former NFL player-turned-civil rights attorney has been preparing a run for the Democrat nomination in Texas to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Politico reported Monday, citing two sources, as did the Dallas Morning News, citing four sources.
The congressman is in his third term after unseating Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) in 2018. He is reportedly well-liked within the House Democratic Caucus and has also held positions in leadership. He currently serves House Minority Whip Katherine Clark’s (D-MA) team and was part of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) big leadership team.
However, running for Senate would be a risky move for him.
Following the 2020 redistricting, his seat became a “safe Democrat” district, meaning he could most likely hold his seat for as long as he would like. But he has to give up his seat to run for the Senate in a state where a Democrat has not won statewide since 1994.
The only candidate who has come close in recent history has been former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), who Cruz held off in his last reelection by 2.6 percentage points. The one difference in Allred running this cycle is that the election would coincide with a presidential election cycle at the top of the ticket.
Politico noted that Allred could be following O’Rourke’s method, where he used the race to build a national profile that allowed him to make a 2020 presidential run, even though it was unsuccessful. Allred could use his own Senate race to build a massive donor list and run for president in 2028.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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