Ted Cruz Warns Campaign Is “Getting Swamped” As Senate Race Moves to “Lean Republican”

The Cook Political Report shifted Texas’ senate race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican” as Sen. Ted Cruz warns voters that his campaign is “getting swamped.”

According to the Political Report’s Senate forecaster Jessica Taylor, Cruz’s challenger, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred has managed to raise and spend considerable money on ads, forcing the incumbent Senator to adopt defensive measures.

In an interview with Newsmax on Tuesday, Cruz said he was Chuck Schimer “number one target in the country, and the Democrats are spending over $100 million.” He said his campaign was “getting swamped” by the two mega donors and asked viewers to donate to his campaign.

Cruz also acknowledged the race was getting tighter than expected.

“There have been multiple polls in the last three weeks that show it as a four-point race, a three-point race, a two-point race, and there have been two polls that show it as a one-point race,” he said.

In an op-ed for the New Republic, Hafiz Rashid, said Cruz practically “begged for money” as he’s been struggling to raise money to defend himself from the Democrat’s offensive.

While Cruz is still holding a lead over Allred in most polls, this advantage has been decreasing over time. According to ABC’s Fivethirtyeight poll tracker, Cruz had, on average, a 6.4 percentage point lead over Allred on June 6. Now, Cruz has an average lead of 3.3 percentage points. So far, only one poll has given the advantage to Allred.

Both candidates have agreed to participate in a televised debate on Oct. 15, three weeks before the Nov. 5 Election Day. This debate could still turn the tides in Allred’s favor or strengthen Cruz’s lead.

Cruz narrowly won his last reelection bid against former Rep. Beto O’Rourke by 2.6 points, or about 200,000 votes.