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We officially have a Democrat entering the race for the Texas Senate seat up for grabs in the 2026 midterms. Former congressman Colin Allred, who was defeated by Senator Ted Cruz by nine points seven months ago, announced his second campaign for the U.S. Senate today.
So what has changed in the last seven months that makes Allred think he can win a statewide race? The key difference is that polling suggests if Allred wins his primary, he will face Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has been a primary target of left-leaning groups in Texas for years.
Political analyst Vlad Davidiuk believes this alone could be enough to motivate Allred to run again. He said, "You have leftists, like Colin Allred, eager to challenge Ken Paxton."
While Allred is currently the only candidate on the Democratic side to officially announce a campaign, it is suspected that others will join, including three-time failed candidate Beto O'Rourke and U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro.
Davidiuk says of all those candidates, Allred may very well be the best of a lot of bad options. He explained, "He seems to have lost the least, compared to some of the others. So in their minds, he could be the least damaged candidate, and that could be appealing to them."
He went on to say that this is a clear example of the Democratic Party's failure to build up a bench of viable candidates, adding that the next generation of Democrats, who are even more progressive and, in his words, "entirely unpalatable" to Texas voters, are on the rise.