The previous congressman’s snub of fellow GOP member U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is the newest high-profile crossover for the Dallas Democrat.
By Kayla Guo, The Texas Tribune
This story was first printed by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media group that informs Texans—and engages with them—about public coverage, politics, authorities and statewide points
Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who is without doubt one of the preeminent critics in his social gathering of former President Donald Trump, will lead a GOP group backing U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, in his drive to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
Republicans for Allred can be co-chaired by Kinzinger, a former Illinois congressman who later moved to Texas and who has excoriated Trump’s transformation of the GOP, an Allred marketing campaign spokesperson confirmed.
Kinzinger, who spoke throughout prime time on the Democratic Nationwide Conference in August, gained nationwide prominence for serving on the Home committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. He was one in all 10 Home Republicans who voted to question Trump for his effort to overturn the 2020 election.
In 2022, Kinzinger withdrew his reelection bid after his district was eradicated in an overhauled Illinois congressional map.
The Republicans for Allred marketing campaign reinforces Allred’s bid to draw independents and extra reasonable Republicans — voters he’ll want with the intention to beat Cruz. Kinzinger’s push for Allred marks the newest high-profile crossover for the Dallas Democrat, after former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney endorsed Allred final month.
Current polling exhibits Cruz holding a tight lead, with the nonpartisan Prepare dinner Political Report updating the Texas Senate race from “likely” to “lean” Republican on Tuesday.
Cruz has additionally garnered endorsements from throughout the aisle, successful the assist of Democratic Harris County District Lawyer Kim Ogg, along with a number of Democratic county judges, sheriffs and constables.
In an announcement, Cruz’s marketing campaign dismissed the Republicans for Allred group as “another fake, feel-good vanity project for Allred.”
“Adam Kinzinger trying to relaunch his political career in Texas isn’t news,” Cruz’s marketing campaign mentioned. “You don’t have to look any further than the co-chair, Adam Kinzinger, a disgruntled former congressman who is on a vindictive rampage against everyone with an ‘R’ next to their name to know how deeply unserious and pathetic this is.”
Cruz forged doubt on the outcomes of the 2020 election for weeks main as much as the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Simply as Trump’s supporters breached the Capitol, Cruz was on the Senate flooring objecting to the certification of Arizona’s ballots.
Kinzinger, who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, was one of some Republicans who denounced their social gathering’s election denialism.
“If the Democratic Party decided some day to go off the rails, similar to what the GOP did, I guarantee you he would be like Adam Kinzinger or Liz Cheney saying this can’t happen,” he mentioned of Allred to The Houston Chronicle, which first reported that he would lead the GOP group for Allred.
