Democrat Colin Allred leads incumbent Republican Ted Cruz in the race for U.S. Senate.
Allred, a U.S. representative from Dallas, has 49.9% of the vote to Cruz’s 48.1% with 48% of the vote counted, according to The Associated Press.
Cruz, of Houston, is a former Texas solicitor general seeking his third Senate term after first taking office in 2013. Allred, of Dallas, played professional football before becoming a civil rights attorney.
In Tarrant County, Cruz was up by about 2 percentage points. Cruz won 50.02% of the early votes in Tarrant County to Allred’s 48.09%, according to unofficial early voting numbers from the county.
Texas has two senators with six-year terms that come up for reelection on a staggered basis. Cruz was last up for reelection in 2018 when he narrowly beat Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat who previously represented El Paso in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The race has gotten national attention as Democrats try to maintain control of the U.S. Senate. Recent polls have showed Allred within about 4 points of Cruz on average.
Democrats, with the help of independents who vote with them, hold a narrow 51-49 majority in Washington’s upper chamber. Beyond Texas, Democrats are working to defend seats in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Were Texas to flip in Democrats’ favor, they’d be one step closer to maintaining control.
Allred is in Dallas and Cruz is in Houston as results come in Tuesday night.
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