Ted Cruz says he’s getting no help from national Republicans

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that as polls show his race tightening, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is lashing out at national Republicans for not doing more to help him in his battle against Democrat Colin Allred. Cruz told Fox News he’s being massively outspent by Allred on the airwaves and couldn’t even afford to get his own ads on TV until three weeks ago. And he complained U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell hasn’t spent a penny on the race even though his PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, is sitting on millions of dollars meant to fight for a GOP majority. “Mitch McConnell runs the largest Republican super PAC in the country and has $400 million. But that super PAC is used to reward the Republican senators who obey him and to punish those who dare to stand up him,” Cruz said during an interview on Life, Liberty & Levin on FOX News on Friday.

Cruz’s comments come just days after Allred’s campaign announced it had raised $30.3 million since July — about $9 million more than Cruz raised during the same period. But Cruz said Allred is getting help from national Democrats. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee last month announced it is preparing to spend millions to support Allred as they see his chances improving to oust Cruz. The committee didn’t spell out exactly how much it would spend. But Cruz told Fox that the combination of national money and Allred’s fundraising haul has his back against the wall going into the final three weeks of his bid to hold onto his seat in the U.S. Senate. “We are in the middle of a full-on battle,” Cruz said. “We are being massively outspent.” There is a heightened tension in part because in-person early voting in Texas starts next week and public polls have shown Cruz and Allred in a tight battle. On Sunday, Politico reported on an internal polling memo by the Senate Leadership Fund that highlighted the trouble Cruz is in. The fund’s internal polling, done by the Tarrance Group in Virginia, showed Cruz leading Allred by 3 percentage points in September. But as of Oct. 8 that was down to just 1 point. In the memo, the group pointed out Cruz has much higher unfavorable ratings among voters than Allred. While 48% of respondents said they had an unfavorable view of Cruz, Allred’s unfavorables were at 36%.