After overlooking O’Rourke, national Democrats show early confidence in Allred

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, speaks at a U.S. Senate debate in Austin on Jan. 28, 2024. The Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention hosted the debate ahead of the March 5 primary elections. (Credit: Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune)

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WASHINGTON — With more than four months left before Election Day 2018, Democrat Beto O’Rourke had campaigned in all of Texas’ 254 counties in his bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. It was a novel strategy central to breaking through in a Republican-controlled state that national Democrats had largely written off.