Democrats’ Plan to Beat Ted Cruz Looks Very Different From Last Time

Beto O’Rourke tried to find new voters in rural Texas and came within points of beating Cruz. This time, Colin Allred’s campaign is focused on purple districts and the big cities.

Colin Allred
Democrat Colin Allred was making significant ad buys as early as May in the Texas senate race. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Beto O’Rourke came the closest any Democrat has come to winning a Senate race in Texas in 30 years by campaigning in places Democrats rarely go. Rep. Colin Allred is going after the same opponent with the hope of getting the job done by doing the opposite.

Texas Democrats are in the hunt for the winning formula, and they’re A/B testing; the Allred campaign could either amount to a massive upset or a colossal waste of money in an election cycle where Democrats need all the resources they can get.

He’s running a very different campaign than O’Rourke did, based on the idea that Allred can galvanize presidential election year turnout to secure the Democratic base and run a middle-of-the-road campaign to win over independents — and even Republicans.