Democrat Running Against Ted Cruz Bankrolled By Donors Who Want To Defund The Police

The Democrat likely to square off against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas for his seat in 2024 has received a significant amount of donations from individuals and groups supportive of the defund the police movement.

Colin Allred, a Democratic House representative from the Dallas area, is running a well-financed campaign against Cruz, one of the most vulnerable Republican senators running in 2024, according to CNN. Allred has received more than $100,000 from groups that have endorsed defunding the police, tracking with his anti-police record during his short tenure in the House.

Allred took $5,000 from Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Courage to Change PAC in 2021. Prior to receiving funds from Courage to Change, candidates like Allred were asked if they would pledge to support “a public safety strategy to reduce the annual budget for law enforcement and defense spending,” Fox News Digital reported.

Ocasio-Cortez herself has taken stances in favor of defunding the police. “Defunding police means defunding police,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a 2020 statement. “It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so that the exact same police remain in schools.”

Allred courting anti-police donors coincided with him supporting anti-police measures in the House. Allred has only served in the House since 2019 and has built up a substantial anti-police record since then.

Allred voted against a motion to recommit a bill that would have required Washington, D.C., to provide “adequate and continued funding” for police officers in 2020 as crime was surging in the city. Allred voted against a motion to condemn calls to defund the police in 2021.

Allred also funneled $1 million in taxpayer dollars to Big Thought, a Dallas-based nonprofit, in 2023. The organization works on integrating racial equity into grade school curriculums and supports defunding the police, Fox News reported.

Allred has received tens of thousands of dollars from the Soros family. George Soros and his family have emerged as major backers of progressive district attorneys who often refuse to prosecute criminals and have financially supported movements pushing to defund the police.

George, Alex, Robert, Jennifer and Jonathan Soros collectively gave Allred $29,900 between 2018 and 2023, according to the FEC.

Pro-abortion groups that also support defunding the police have bankrolled Allred’s political career as well. Planned Parenthood, which explicitly supports defunding law enforcement “because their continued militarization and brutal treatment of Black people runs counter to the values upheld and advanced by Planned Parenthood,” has given Allred $11,500 over the course of his career. NARAL, a pro-abortion group that said “it’s past time to defund the police” in 2021, gave Allred over $13,000 between 2018 and 2021.

Other groups that support defunding the police, such as the Sierra Club, which called police officers terrorists and demanded they be defunded, and the Human Rights Campaign, which called for the “divestment of police resources,” both poured thousands of dollars into supporting Allred’s political career.

High-profile Democrats who support defunding the police have also been significant donors to Allred’s House and Senate campaigns. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Katherine Clark, both of whom have expressed support for defunding the police, collectively gave $15,000 to Allred.

PACs run by failed Democratic candidates Julian Castro and Mandela Barnes, both supporters of defunding the police, gave thousands to Allred.

The homicide rate is rising in Dallas, a city Allred partially represents, KERA News reported. The city’s murder rate has increased 13% since last year, according to the Dallas Police Department.

The Allred campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.