Cruz and Allred face off in their one and only debate amid tight Senate race

Early voting starts in one week, on Oct. 21, and one of the big races on your ballot is the one for the US Senate between Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Colin Allred.

On Tuesday night, the two men take to the stage for their one and only debate.

The debate is a chance for both men to make a final big pitch to voters in what polling suggests is a close race. Both candidates tell ABC13 they're excited about the opportunity.

Ted Cruz is a debate veteran. A high school and college debater, in 2016, he dueled Beto O'Rourke in a pair of testy debates before winning reelection. While he takes a break from his fifty-one-stop statewide bus tour to finish his preparations, he said he wants to draw a sharp contrast.

"I'm proud of my record. I'm eager to talk about the victories that I've led and fought and won for Texas," Cruz said. "Every election should be about the record, the record of each candidate. I have spent 12 years fighting for jobs and freedom and freedom and security for the people of Texas. Authoring and passing positive bipartisan pro-growth, pro-jobs legislation."

For Allred's part, he is taking the opportunity to tell Texans who he is and what he stands for after serving three terms in Congress, representing north Texas.

"I know there are a lot of Texans out there who say, 'Listen, I was a supporter of George W. Bush, but I don't see myself reflected in this version of the Republican Party," Allred told ABC13. "I have always respected the voters and I respect Texans, and I think they're paying attention. I think they're looking at every single thing trying to make a determination about who they think will look out for them and their family and their values."

While the debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump in June led to a seismic shift in the campaign, with Joe Biden's poor performance being the catalyst for his withdrawal from the race, it's unlikely tomorrow's contest will move the needle that much. But in a close race, every opportunity a candidate gets to score a point might make the difference. It's an opportunity for voters statewide to see them outside the narrow confines of 30-second television ads. Bob Stein is a political science professor and Elections expert at Rice University. He said a debate like this is only happening because both candidates think they need it, especially Cruz.

"My sense is that Cruz feels like this is important," Stein said. "I think he thinks it's close because he's not popular among all Republicans, and Democrats have been making some inroads."

Stein still expects Cruz will win in November but says the margin matters for any greater political aspirations he might hold.

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