​Ted Cruz may have his toughest Senate foe yet – and conservative media seem alarmed

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas) is off to a strong fundraising start in his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz – so strong that exclusive reporting of his effort by the Texas Tribune today even garnered wide coverage from conservative media.

Allred raised $6.2 million in less than two months and transferred an additional $2.4 million from his House campaign account, the Tribune reported. That could spell trouble for Cruz.

“The numbers, first shared with The Texas Tribune, mean Allred will report about $8.6 million in total receipts between when he launched his Senate campaign on May 3 and the end of the second quarter, which was June 30. His campaign previously announced raising over $2 million in its first 36 hours.

“Allred’s second-quarter fundraising cements his formidability as a fundraiser. Cruz’s last Democratic opponent, Beto O’Rourke, was a fundraising juggernaut at the height of the race, but it took him his first three fundraising quarters — nine months — to raise the $6.2 million that Allred collected in 59 days. O’Rourke lost his 2018 race by three 3 percent.

Notably, a number of right-wing media outlets normally disposed to play down such news instead gave it ample coverage. The Washington Examiner played the headline straight about Allred’s early haul and was concerned enough that its political reporter obtained this reaction:

“National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Philip Letsou told the Washington Examiner in a statement, 'Democrats in California and New York have lit hundreds of millions of dollars on fire trying to buy a Texas Senate seat for a decade and have nothing to show for it. Colin Allred’s support for open borders and eliminating the Second Amendment will ensure he goes down in flames just like Beto O’Rourke.'"

The Washington Times also covered the story. And even John Solomon’s far-right “Just the News” picked it up, with the subhead warning “polls show Cruz is ahead but there are 15% who are still unsure.”

It cited ‘A University of Texas at Tyler poll from mid-May showing Cruz holding just a five point lead (42 to 37 percent).

The conservative media even cited this reporting from the Texas Tribune:

“Since day one this campaign has been about bringing people together to beat Ted Cruz and give this state the leadership it deserves,” Allred’s campaign manager, Paige Hutchinson, said in a statement. “We are amazed at the outpouring of support, and more confident than ever that we will have the resources to win next November and send Ted Cruz packing.”

Allred, the reported noted, had 97,600 donors in the second quarter, according to this campaign. But there was also this:

“Allred will likely face a contested Democratic primary to challenge Cruz. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio is also expected to run, and state Rep. Carl Sherman of DeSoto is newly considering a bid.”

Allred, a former NFL football player, announced his candidacy on May 3.