WASHINGTON — The level of enthusiasm among many Democrats shot up after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him atop the Democratic ticket. In Texas, many Democrats have been vocal about supporting Harris, but that has not exactly been the case for Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, who is trying to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in November.
When Democrats launched a new statewide initiative last month to turn Texas blue, some also offered their full-throated enthusiasm for Harris in her quest to win the White House.
“Kamala Harris at the top of that ticket, you’re going to see unprecedented activity,” said Rodney Ellis, Harris County Precinct One Commissioner.
But Allred has pretty much steered clear of the presidential race. Though Allred endorsed Harris, his support for her has been muted compared to other Texas Democrats. Allred has also been mum on Harris’ vice president pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Allred, and his campaign has said he has been laser-focused on his own race and ensuring that voters aren’t only energized but they’re also going out to vote.
“Our most important mission here is to make sure we’ve got a strong U.S. senator representing us in Washington,” said Matt Angle, director of the Lone Star Project.
“He has made this race from the beginning until now, about him versus Ted Cruz, and that’s what Texans want. That’s what Texans expect. They don’t expect him to be a cheerleader for any other campaign,” Angle said.
Some political analysts said that because Allred is trying to win an election in a Republican-dominated state, it makes sense for him to steer clear of partisan behavior.
“He needs a fair number of crossover voters. He needs people to look at the Senate race on its own terms, not in terms of the partisan balance of power in Washington,” said Matthew Wilson, political science professor at Southern Methodist University. “So the more that he can paint himself as a bipartisan, moderate figure, not tied to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which is what Harris and Walz represent, if he can do that, he stands a fighting chance.”
A recent poll by the University of Houston and Texas Southern University found that Allred has positive favorability ratings among likely voters in Texas, while Harris had a negative rating. Like many polls, it was conducted before Biden ended his reelection bid and Harris became the presidential candidate.
“For Allred, in his ideal world, he’ll benefit from the extra turnout generated by the Harris-Walz ticket, but not get hurt by being too closely associated with it,” said Mark Jones, professor of political science at Rice University.
Some political experts say unless those favorability ratings change in Texas and the Harris campaign can tweak perceptions, Democrats running in red states will likely still keep their distance.