Colin Allred, Senate contender from Texas: ‘Workers were promised that the focus would be on lowering their costs. We’ve seen just the opposite’

Eight months after being defeated by Ted Cruz in the Senate race, Colin Allred, 42, is back on the Texas political scene. The Democratic politician and former U.S. representative (2019–2025) has bounced back and announced a few weeks ago that he would run in his party’s primary in hopes of returning to Washington in the 2026 elections.

If chosen by his party for the race, his mission would be to unseat Republican John Cornyn, who has been in the Senate since 2002. Allred is the second candidate to officially announce his bid, and during these summer days marked by catastrophic floods that have left the state in mourning, he’s touring Texas — from Dallas to Houston, through San Antonio and Austin, all the way to the border cities of McAllen and Brownsville. It’s the start of a campaign with which, for the second time, he aims to break the decades-long Republican stronghold on Texas’ Senate seats in the capital.

The former NFL player and civil rights attorney is a well-known figure in Texas. Although he lost to Ted Cruz, who has been a senator in Washington since 2013, in the 2024 elections, Allred received 5.5 percentage points more votes than Kamala Harris did in the presidential race, which strengthens his profile. Preliminary polls also suggest that a bruising Republican primary between current Senator Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could leave Allred particularly well positioned heading into the November 2026 midterms, where Democrats aim to claw back the Republicans’ razor-thin majority.

Allred speaks with EL PAÍS after an event at a packed community center in Houston, where attendees gathered to hear the imposing candidate in a blue shirt speak. “I want to tell you that I’m running again for one reason: because I don’t give up — and I know you don’t either,” he says to the applause of a crowd already beginning to gear up for the next election cycle.

Question: Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office in 30 years. What’s your platform doing differently to change that pattern? How do you plan to stand out in a competitive primary?

Answer. I’m a fourth-generation Texan, so I know our history. And I also know that a lot of people are hungry for change. We need to make sure folks know that it’s not just about telling them, but showing them that we’re on their side. Particularly for the hardworking people who grew up like I did, being raised by a single mother, a public school teacher, knowing what it means to struggle. I want to make sure that everyone in that situation knows that I’m going to be a fighter for them. And that I care about our state. I’m in this to make sure that everyone has a chance to chase their version of the American dream. And I really think that will resonate.

Q. You say that an anti-corruption agenda is a central pillar of your campaign. What does it consist of, and how do you plan to implement it?

A. The problem with corruption is that it’s not just wrong, it costs working people dearly. We see that reflected in the special tax breaks and in this bill [Trump’s mega tax law] they just passed. That ends up costing all of us. And I think it also leads people to be more cynical about our democracy as a whole and to think that everyone is a crook.

That’s why I think we need to have a very specific plan to try to prevent this and reign this back in, but also to get people back to work for what they’re supposed to be doing: serving the people they represent, rather than themselves or their special interests. How are we going to implement that plan? Well, it’s about building public support. I don’t think it’s very hard not to support certain measures to prevent corruption. Once folks see there is another way, that will gain momentum.

Q. What is your proposal to alleviate the cost of living crisis in Texas, especially in housing, health care, and transportation?

A. When I was a kid, I was worried every time we went to the grocery store, wondering if we would have enough to pay for everything that week. I know what folks are going through. In the last election, working people were promised that the focus would be on lowering their costs. Instead, what we’ve seen is just the opposite. This bill that just passed is a big bust. It is going to raise costs for working people, kick people off their health care, all to cut taxes for the rich.

We need to address the affordability crisis from every possible angle. Regarding housing, we need more supply. When it comes to making sure that the dignity of work is respected, we can need to make sure that folks are being paid what they deserve, that they get the benefits of their labor, and hold accountable the price gougers who are trying to keep their costs artificially high.

I’ve always focused a lot on the costs of early childhood and child care, because we’re young parents, but also because I know that for many workers, one of their biggest costs is what they’ll do with their children. We lost a lot of childcare centers during the pandemic. Costs have gone up on the ones that are left. And early childhood care is incredibly expensive and difficult for working families. While it may not seem like it’s part of the affordability crisis, it’s one of the biggest costs folks have.

We have to expand healthcare and lower the cost. Too many people don’t have health insurance, or if they do, they can’t afford it. And that has many indirect costs. Medical debt is still one of our highest sources of bankruptcy. That’s not right. This bill is going to kick 1.7 million Texans off their healthcare. That’s not right.

Q. What is your position on guns?

A. I grew up around guns. I grew up going to camps where we learned how to handle a rifle responsibly. But we’re seeing too much daily violence and mass shootings, and there are important steps we can take. These steps have only been prevented by a corrupt system that is rigged in order to allow a special interest to prevent common-sense measures from passing. That’s part of the root issue: to achieve any of these things, you have to address what’s holding them back.

We often come back to how our campaigns are funded, how the system is broken, and what we can do to restore that structure — that your incentive is to do what’s right for the people you represent, not for special interests. I believe we can respect the Second Amendment while protecting our children.

Q. As the first Black Democratic Senate candidate, and a father, what does it mean to you to represent the diversity of Texas?

A. I’m incredibly proud of how diverse we are as a state. Our diversity is a strength for us. I’m not running to be the first Black senator; I’d just be where I was elected. But I hope kids can see the things I’ve done, from being a civil rights lawyer, to the NFL, to serving in Congress, to potentially being a U.S. senator. Know that I was raised by a single mother, that I come from public schools, and that they can do it too. We have to set up ladders of opportunity, so people can achieve their goals. If we do that, then it’s their responsibility to take advantage of it. But if we don’t provide them with those opportunities, then it’s on us that we have held them back.

Q. Texas is at the center of the immigration debate in the United States. What do you propose to maintain border security without compromising respect for migrants and human rights?

A. Well, my family is from Brownsville, a very typical Texas on the U.S.-Mexico border. I spent a lot of my childhood there. And I think we needed to do more to secure the border. We must have a secure border, but do it in a way that is consistent with our values, treating people the right way. Those values also mean that when we don’t do that, we lose something fundamental. How we treat others says more about us than it does about them.

We have a broken immigration system, and we need comprehensive reform that includes border security. The goal is also to bring folks out of the shadows and provide a path to citizenship for those who have been here for a while, followed the rules, and haven’t broken the law. We need to provide resources to a system so broken that it doesn’t have enough immigration judges. It doesn’t have the capacity to process people in a timely manner so we can maintain our asylum system, which also reflects our values.

Q. Regarding the recent floods in Texas, what do you propose to ensure that the response to these disasters does not repeat the same weaknesses that have become evident now?

A. What I’ve seen from spending six years on the House Infrastructure Committee is that when it comes to emergency, disaster, and extreme weather prevention, you need to have overlapping systems of notification. You have to have sirens, signs, cell phone notifications—everything possible to quickly provide information at a critical time. It does seem that there was some breakdown along that chain. It’s also true that we had key staffing positions that were not filled. Sometimes I think some of these positions are extra until a crisis hits, and then you need them.

There are mitigation steps that can be taken to ensure that, if it’s an area that floods, we can try to make it safer. But I think the first requirement is to understand that we’re going to continually face more extreme weather events. We will have floods and hurricanes much more regularly. So we have to be prepared to protect both people and property. For me, that has to start with understanding and accepting the science behind it.

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