The incumbent U.S. Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz (R), and Congressman Colin Allred (D) faced off in an hour-long debate Tuesday night in Dallas. Controversial topics such as abortion, the economy, immigration, international affairs and climate change dominated the evening’s conversation.
Cruz and Allred agreed to the debate, hosted by WFAA along with moderators Jason Whitely and Gromer Jeffers Jr., in a bid to win over voters. This debate was crucial for both campaigns in this senate election as it has changed from “likely Republican,” or a race with a Republican advantage, to “leaning Republican,” which signifies another close, competitive race. Cruz, who beat the last democratic challenger, Beto O’Rouke, by less than 3 points in 2018, has held the senate seat for 11 years.
In McCord Auditorium in Dallas Hall, SMU Professor Ben Voth gave a pre-debate lecture to two audience members, where he spoke about the importance of debate in political discourse.
“This is a pretty significant Senate race,” Voth said. “I think debate is a really ideal way to resolve political differences, and that’s a big part of why we sponsor these events consistently, is to try to get the public to think about resolving political differences in this ideal way.”
This is the third debate Voth has sponsored this semester. He previously hosted watch parties for the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates as a partnership between the Speech and Debate club and Young Americans for Freedom (YAF). Voth serves as a faculty advisor to both the Speech and Debate club and YAF.
Off campus at the Angelika Theatre at Mockingbird Station, The Dallas County Young Democrats gathered and hosted a watch party of their own.
There was a palpable passion and frustration in the room throughout the debate as the crowd listened to the arguments made by Allred and Cruz. The audience cheered when Allred responded to Cruz.
Cruz and Allred wasted no time attempting to shape the narrative of hot-button topics for the U.S. Senate Election.
“So to every Texas woman at home and every Texas family that’s watching this, understand that when Ted Cruz says he’s pro-life, he doesn’t mean yours,” Allred said.
Allred also called out Cruz’s support and participation in the January 6 riot.
“You’re a threat to democracy,” Allred said. “I remember when you objected to the results in Arizona. I remember where you were on January 6, what you were doing…This election is his accountability.”
Cruz responded by alleging that Allred’s values don’t align with Texas.
“[Allred’s] voting record is radical, extreme,” Cruz said. “I want to keep Texas, Texas,” he said later in the night.
Audience members of the Dallas County Young Democrats had mixed reviews of the debate, but overall, they were satisfied with Allred’s performance.
One member of Dallas’ Young Democrats, Andrea Granados, had mixed feelings about the topics of the night and the candidates’ responses.
“I feel like Cruz did a couple of things I didn’t think he’d be blatant enough to do even from what I’ve seen of him,” Granados said. “I think he’s counting on people who are ignorant to believe him.”
Granados explained that she saw Representative Allred fail to directly answer questions that she wanted to see him be firm and clear on.
As the debate progressed, more students trickled into McCord Auditorium, ending the night with seven total audience members, a higher number than the Vice Presidential debate’s watch party numbers.
“I’m pleasantly surprised,” Voth said. “A lot of times people don’t even pay attention to state issues. Obviously the Senate is really important, but I was actually thinking more people showed up tonight than I was expecting.”
Some audience members thought the attendance was higher than the Vice Presidential debate because of the spectacle that polarization can bring, as well as the greater impact on the U.S. Senate election on their lives.
“I think it’s also when you look at the figures themselves. I mean, there was a lot of agreement in the second debate. It wasn’t that polarizing,” SMU student Brett Trussell said. “You have somebody like Cruz, who’s a very polarizing figure so I think that also draws out attendance.”
As the night came to a close, Dallas County Young Democrat’s vice chair for finance, Kendall Scudder, said Allred exposed who Senator Cruz really is and how Representative Allred is an opportunity for Texas to start fresh in the debate.
“I think that Colin Allred just displayed to all of Texas how slimy Ted Cruz is and how he tries to wiggle out of every situation he’s created for himself and created for us,” Scudder said. “Colin Allred is providing a unique opportunity for Texans to move forward to try to have a senator that doesn’t embarrass our state and tries to deliver resources and results.”
President of the Dallas County Young Democrats, Chris Leal, shared his hopes for the next generation voting in this year’s election.
“Dallas is one of the youngest cities in the country with half of our population being under the age of 35. This is where change happens,” Leal said. “I think young people don’t want eight more years of Ted Cruz.”
Once the debate finished, there was an overwhelming consensus among the Voth watch party that Cruz won the debate.
“Cruz performed better rhetorically,” SMU student Elijah Orr said.
Voth, using his own personal scoring system, which ranks debaters through the lens of a professional debater as well as the debater’s ability to win an independent voter, agreed that Cruz won.
“Cruz has a lot of college debate experience, a lot of successful college debate experience, and obviously a considerable Senate debating career, so I think it kind of showed tonight,” Voth said. “I also think he senses some urgency to this election, it’s kind of close, and so he really wanted to use this debate to send a strong signal.”
At WFAA’s headquarters, supporters and campaign allies for both campaigns analyzed the debate.
“I don’t believe Texas is going to flip to a democratic blue or even a purple, but I do think that this is a very important race, and I believe that Colin Allred is the right person at the right time,” said Tarrant County Republican Glen Whitley. “I think Collin Allred can win this race in Texas, but I don’t see all of Texas going blue anytime soon.”
Cruz campaigner, Sam Cooper, said Allred’s campaign’s strength comes from national democrats seeking to take down Cruz instead of Texan support for Allred.
“I think the senator is a fighter, and outside of Donald Trump, he’s the number one target for Democrats across the country,” Cooper said. “Colin Allred has raised 30 million bucks and he’s barely campaigned this last quarter, that’s no accident, that’s not because of Colin Allred, that’s because of Ted Cruz.”
