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By James Bickerton
News Reporter
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A leading bookmaker is offering odds on House Democrat Colin Allred unseating Senator Ted Cruz, when the Texas Republican stands for re-election in November 2024.
Allred, a former NFL player who was elected to the House in 2018, announced on Wednesday that he will run against Cruz for his Senate seat in the 2024 race.
Control of the Senate is currently on a knife edge, with 51 senators caucusing with the Democrats versus 49 for the Republicans, meaning the loss of Cruz's seat would be a major blow to the GOP's hopes of seizing the upper chamber in 2024.
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Sam Rosbottom, the spokesperson for British betting firm Betfair, told Newsweek: "Democratic Representative Allred, a former Tennessee Titans linebacker, has publicly criticized Cruz in the past and is 5/1 to win the Texas Senate seat next year."
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Allred launched a fiery attack on Cruz in his Senate campaign announcement video, which was released on Wednesday and has accumulated more than two million views on Twitter alone.
Referring to the Texas Republican, he said: "He'll do anything to get on Fox News, but can't be bothered to help keep rural Texas hospitals open. Spends months trying to whip up phony culture wars, but not a minute trying to raise wages or lower drug prices."
The congressman added: "We don't have to be embarrassed by our senator. We can get a new one."
Allred was first elected to the House in 2018 when he defeated incumbent Republican Pete Sessions to represent Texas's 32nd Congressional District.
In a statement sent to Newsweek after Allred announced he is running, Nick Maddux, Cruz's spokesperson, branded the Democrat challenger a "far-left radical."
"Democrats have once again turned to a far-left radical to run for Senate. Not only does Colin Allred vote with Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time, but his voting record is completely out-of-touch with Texas," Maddux said.
"Allred wants men to compete in women's sports, isn't serious about addressing the crisis at the border, wants to take away law-abiding Texans' guns, and is soft on punishing murderers. Bottom line, Allred is too extreme for Texas. Thankfully, the Lone Star State has a tireless champion in Sen. Ted Cruz."
Newsweek called Allred's Washington D.C. office and emailed Cruz for comment.
Thomas Gift, who heads the Centre on US Politics at University College London, said that Cruz faces a credible challenge in 2024.
"Based on the 2018 results alone when Cruz just narrowly beat out challenger Beto O'Rouke, it's certainly not a foregone conclusion that Cruz has 2024 in the bag. A victory now may be more precarious given just how much Cruz has aligned himself with Trumpism, making him an even more polarizing figure," Gift told Newsweek.
"Cruz still has to be considered the favorite, given name recognition, cash, incumbent status, and a major political machine behind him in the RNC (Republican National Committee) that wants to keep one of its most loyal foot soldiers in power. At the same time, his seat is clearly one to watch, with the odds of an upset looking nontrivial."
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