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Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Houston on Friday with U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, the Dallas Democrat challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, for a rally that will mark the duo’s first joint appearance on the campaign trail this election cycle.
The surprise visit, Harris’ first trip to Texas since she officially clinched the Democratic presidential nomination more than two months ago, comes in the closing weeks of a campaign that has seen the vice president largely focus her efforts on other states seen as more competitive. Her appearance with Allred signals national Democrats’ renewed interest in the Texas Senate race, which Democrats see as one of their few viable options to pick up a seat in the upper chamber.
The location of Harris’ rally has yet to be announced. It is slated to take place at some point between 3 and 8 p.m. Friday, according to a Democratic National Committee event page.
As early voting kicked off Monday, Cruz remained favored to continue Texas Republicans’ three-decade winning streak in statewide elections, with an average lead of about 4 percentage points, according to FiveThirtyEight’s rolling average of recent public polls. But Allred has fueled optimism among Democrats by consistently outraising Cruz and narrowing the polling gap in recent weeks, attracting multimillion-dollar investments from national Democratic groups and prompting two leading elections forecasters to shift their outlook for the contest from “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican.”
Throughout the campaign — and especially in the final weeks — Allred has leaned into Texas’ abortion ban, running ads that seek to tie Cruz to the ban’s lack of exception for cases of rape and incest. A spokesperson for Allred’s campaign said he would continue to focus on the state abortion ban at Friday’s rally.
“What women in Texas are facing every day under Ted Cruz’s abortion ban is unacceptable,” Allred said in a statement. “By supporting an abortion ban that makes no exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the mother, Ted Cruz has put women at risk.”
Texas’ abortion ban does contain an exception to save the life of the mother, though critics say the law’s language is unclear and has led to women — some of whom Allred has featured in his ads — leaving the state to access life-saving care. Cruz, meanwhile, has repeatedly declined to say where he stands on the question of rape and incest exceptions, arguing the matter should be settled at the state level.
Allred’s joint appearance with Harris comes after he has spent the last couple months generally keeping his distance from the vice president. He offered a cautious embrace of Harris’ candidacy after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her, then briefly voiced his explicit support for Harris in a speech at the Democratic National Convention that otherwise focused on going after Cruz.
Allred has focused on courting moderate voters, seeking to portray himself as a centrist who would work across the aisle and take a stricter approach to border security and immigration than other Texas Democrats. Cruz has disputed the authenticity of Allred’s moderate posture, often by tying him to Harris and the more liberal stances of the Biden-Harris administration.
Public polling has consistently shown Harris trailing Republican nominee Donald Trump by several percentage points in Texas, with the Allred-Cruz margin typically a few points closer. No Democratic presidential nominee has carried the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
In 2020, Trump defeated Biden in Texas by 5.6 percentage points, the narrowest margin for a GOP nominee since 1996.
A recent statewide poll from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin found that 44% of likely Texas voters view Harris favorably, while 50% hold an unfavorable view. Her outlook was markedly better in a poll from the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs, conducted around the same time, which put Harris at 49% favorable and 51% unfavorable.
In the same Hobby School survey, Trump was viewed favorably and unfavorably by an even 50-50 split.
Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin and University of Houston have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Voting FAQ: 2024 Elections
When is the next election? What dates do I need to know?
Election Day for the general election is November 5, and early voting will run from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. The deadline to register to vote and/or change your voter registration address is Oct. 7. Applications to vote by mail must be received by your county of residence – not postmarked – by Oct. 25.
What’s on the ballot for the general election?
In addition to the president, eligible Texans have the opportunity to cast their ballots for many Texas officials running for office at the federal, state and local levels.
This includes representatives in the U.S. and Texas houses and the following elected offices:
-1 U.S Senator (Ted Cruz)
– 1 of 3 Railroad Commissioners
– 15 State Senators
– 7 State Board of Education members
– 3 members of the Texas Supreme Court
– 3 members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
– 5 Chief Justices and various justices for Texas Courts of Appeals
Lower-level judges and local county offices will also appear on the ballot:
– Various district judges, including on criminal and family courts
– County Courts at Law
– Justices of the Peace
– District Attorneys
– County Attorneys
– Sheriffs
– Constables
– Tax Assessor-Collectors
How do I make sure I’m registered to vote?
You can check to see if you’re registered and verify your information through the Texas Secretary of State’s website. You’ll need one of the following three combinations to log in: Your Texas driver’s license number and date of birth. Your first and last names, date of birth and county you reside in. Your date of birth and Voter Unique Identifier, which appears on your voter registration certificate.
What if I missed the voter registration deadline?
You must be registered to vote in a Texas county by Oct. 7 to vote in the Nov. 5 presidential election. You can still register for other elections.
If you’re registered but didn’t update your address by the deadline, you may still be able to vote at your previous voting location or on a limited ballot. (Voters are typically assigned precincts based on where they live. In most major counties, voters can vote anywhere on Election Day, but some counties require you vote within your precinct. If that is the case, you may have to return to your previous precinct. See which counties allow countywide Election Day voting here. You can usually find your precinct listed on your voter registration certificate or on when checking your registration online.)
If you moved from one county to another, you may be able to vote on a ballot limited to the elections you would qualify to vote in at both locations, such as statewide races. However, limited ballots are only available during early voting. Find your county election official here and contact them to ask about or request a limited ballot.
What can I do if I have questions about voting?
You can contact your county elections official or call the Texas Secretary of State’s helpline at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683). A coalition of voting rights groups is also helping voters navigate election concerns through the 866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683) voter-protection helpline. The coalition also has hotlines available for voters who speaker other languages or have accessibility needs.
For help in Spanish, call 888-VE-Y-VOTA or 888-839-8682.
For help in Asian languages, call 888-API-VOTE or 888-274-8683.
For help in Arabic, call 888-YALLA-US or 888-925-5287.
For help in American Sign Language through a video, call 301-818-VOTE or 301-818-8683.
For help from Disability Rights Texas, call 888-796-VOTE or 888-796-8683.
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