Incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Colin Allred will debate in Dallas on Oct. 15 in a televised event that comes less than a week before early voting for the Nov. 5 election begins.
The debate was announced Friday by WFAA, an ABC station in Dallas-Fort Worth, which will anchor the contest. The contest will also be broadcast live on the on-air and digital platforms of TEGNA sister stations across Texas.
Cruz — who is among Texas’ highest-profile elected officials after running and winning twice at the state level and finishing second to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential primaries — is seeking a third six-year term in the Senate. He won his first race in 2012 by a comfortable 16-point margin, but saw that margin shrink to a nail-biting 2.6 points when he faced a tough and well-funded challenge from Democratic former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso in 2018.
Allred, a three-term congressman from Dallas, is also well-funded but is running a smaller, more centrist race than the more openly liberal O’Rourke. The latest polls suggest another tight race is on the horizon.
On Friday, Allred claimed his first lead in a poll. Morning Consult put the Democrat ahead by one point in a poll conducted Sept. 9-18. That contrasts with an Emerson College/The Hill poll conducted earlier this month that showed Cruz at 48 percent and Allred at 44 percent. And a University of Houston/Texas Southern University poll released last month showed Cruz ahead of Allred 46.6 percent to 44.5 percent. The Texas Politics Project poll released around the same time, by contrast, had Cruz ahead 44 percent to 36 percent.
More: When does early voting start in Texas? Key dates for the 2024 US presidential election
In addition to the main broadcast of the debate on Oct. 15, the Texas Association of Broadcasters will fund a real-time Spanish-language translation of the debate that will air on an alternate audio channel of the satellite feed. A TEGNA press release said an advisory outlining broadcast and digital use rules for off-network stations will be emailed to Texas radio and television stations.
The deadline to register to vote in the November 5 election is October 7. Early voting begins on October 21 and ends on November 1.
Where can you watch the Ted Cruz vs. Colin Allred debate on October 15?
In addition to WFAA in Dallas-Fort Worth, the following media outlets will broadcast the debate live:
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KVUE (Austin)
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KHOU (Houston)
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KENS (San Antonio)
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KCEN (Waco)
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KAGS (College Station)
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KYTX (Tyler)
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KIII (Corpus Christi)
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KBMT-KJAC (Beaumont)
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KWES (Midland-Odessa)
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KXVA (Abilene)
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CHILD (San Angelo)
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Ted Cruz and Colin Allred to debate U.S. Senate race in Dallas on October 15
