Democrats are scrambling to make last-minute investments in the Texas Senate race as the party faces long odds to keep their majority in the chamber.
The Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC announced a new $5 million ad investment in the state on Thursday, with less than two weeks left in the campaign. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has spent approximately $13 million on television advertising in the race so far, according to a DSCC aide, and is expected to spend “several million more” in the final two weeks of the race. And Kamala Harris is headed to the state on Friday for a rally with Democratic candidate Rep. Colin Allred.
It’s an eye-catching showing of support given the difficulty Democrats have faced in Texas. With other races for Senate Democrats looking bleak, particularly in Montana, there’s hope that Texas could be the key to keeping control of the chamber.
Recent polling showed Allred within striking distance of incumbent GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, leading some Democrats to sound the alarm that the national party could be missing a historic opportunity to flip the state.
“We’re all working really hard to make sure that Colin pulls this off,” said Democratic Texas Rep. Greg Casar. “But if he does, then Colin and Texas really did it on our own, without the level of national help that I think we really deserved.”
The once deep-red state is one of the party’s only chances to pick up a Senate seat this year, alongside Florida, which is seen as perhaps an even more difficult landscape for Democrats. If Allred loses by a small, seemingly surmountable margin, there’s going to be a whole lot of regret and finger-pointing. Even the latest round of investments could be seen as too little, too late.
Some in the party have been calling on officials for weeks to step it up and throw everything they’ve got at the state.
“I want to see all the resources we can get for Colin Allred,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said. “He is within the margin of error, and I think this is our best chance in years to win a Senate seat in Texas.”
Allred on his own has raised more than $80 million to date, according to his campaign, raising hopes that he can handle the race himself financially. On Thursday, he announced raising $11 million in the last 16 days alone. But his impressive fundraising operation — likely in part due to Cruz’s status as a nationally polarizing figure — may not be enough on its own in incredibly expensive Texas. Its media markets are vast, and the state’s massive geography makes voter turnout efforts difficult to coordinate.
What’s more, Texas is often seen as a figurative piggy bank in American politics. Its money funnels out to races across the country. But when Texas Democrats need the favor in return, they say it doesn’t come.
“They only parachute in to take money out,” Democratic Texas state Rep. Gene Wu said of national Democrats, before the latest round of investment was announced. “They never put anything back. And people say: ‘Well, why doesn’t Texas flip? Why doesn’t Texas turn blue?’ It’s because there’s no investment.”
DSCC spokesperson Amanda Sherman Baity wrote in a statement that “the DSCC has made our largest ever investment in Texas, tens of millions more than we have ever spent against Cruz.”
“All cycle long, we’ve been making investments and preparing to take advantage of this offensive opportunity,” Sherman Baity added.
Allred spokesperson Josh Stewart also wrote in a statement to POLITICO that the “DSCC has been an invaluable partner” and that “Allred has built a campaign to win.”
Another aspect on Democrats’ minds: Winning the seat would tee them up nicely for the state’s 2026 contest, when incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) will be up for reelection. Cruz is generally seen as an easier target than Cornyn, though the latter could face a primary challenge from his right.
“The reality is that when you just look out into the state of Texas and start adding up the voters, there just tend to be more Republican voters than Democratic voters,” said Joshua Blank, director of the Texas Politics Project.
Republicans still say they’re not worried. And National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Philip Letsou on Thursday dinged Allred for campaigning with Harris in a statement, calling it “no surprise” and adding “Allred and Harris will turn Texas into California if given the chance.”
“I hope they spend all their money there,” Cornyn, who is running to lead the Senate GOP next year, said about Democrats’ chances in Texas this year. “Because they’re going to lose.”
Ally Mutnick, Daniella Diaz, Nicholas Wu and Anthony Adragna contributed to this report.
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