Convenience Big Store: Ted Cruz ramps up spending as he tries to keep pace with Colin Allred

October 23, 2024

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• Early voting period: Now to Nov. 1
• Election Day: Nov. 5

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Good morning, Houston.

It's Wednesday, y'all! Early voting for the Nov. 5 is in full swing — and so is election disinformation. Houstonians have reported receiving a text message that cautions voters to check for markings on their ballots to prevent their votes from being invalidated. Beware: the text is "misleading, false and reckless," Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth says.

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Yasmeen Khalifa, Audience Engagement Producer

yasmeen.khalifa@houstonchronicle.com

Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, top left, takes notes as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a U.S. Senate debate, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in Dallas. (Shelby Tauber/Texas Tribune via AP, Pool)

Photo by: Shelby Tauber (Associated Press)

Ted Cruz ramps up campaign spending as he tries to keep pace with Colin Allred...

The big picture: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is ramping up campaign spending sharply in the final sprint before the Nov. 5 election as he tries to narrow the fundraising gap with U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, the Democratic challenger who had been out-spending Cruz nearly three to one.

The numbers: Between July and October, Cruz's campaign shelled out $16.3 million, more than three times what he spent the previous three months and bringing his total for the campaign to $62.9 million, according to federal campaign finance data.

The impact: The spending blitz brings Cruz far closer to Allred, whose campaign spent $37.4 million between July and October. And it puts him well over the $46 million he spent in 2018, when he narrowly won reelection over Democrat Beto O'Rourke.

Yet, with polls showing Cruz only holding a narrow lead over Allred, the Republican incumbent is under pressure to get more aggressive in his campaign.

Read James Osborne's full story here.

📰 Need to Know

GEYSER FINALLY STOPS SPEWING: A tower of saltwater and poisonous gas that plagued a West Texas oil field for nearly three weeks has stopped flowing. Kinder Morgan said its crews stopped the geyser on Monday, but that work remains onsite to fill and plug the well.
JUDGE'S REMOVAL SOUGHT: For the second time, prosecutors have asked for a judge's removal from the death penalty case of convicted mass killer Ronald Haskell, objecting to her letting him quietly leave death row for an MRI.
FIRING BACK: Controller Chris Hollins is calling for Mayor John Whitmire's State of the City address to be included in the "pay to play" ethics probe requested against him.
TOXIC ASH UPDATE: Federal agents drilled for soil samples Tuesday afternoon on Houston Housing Authority land where deposits of toxic ash have been found near a controversial apartment complex.
BATTLESHIP TEXAS DEAL SUNK: Battleship Texas, one of the last remaining vessels to survive both World War I and II, will not be docked at the Port of Galveston's Pier 19, the port's governing body decided Tuesday.

💼 Business

ARE BACKUP GENERATORS FOR THE RICH? Generators are typically a luxury amenity, but one Houston developer wants to make backup power accessible to the masses in its market-rate and affordable-priced homes underway around the metro.
CHEESCAKE FACTORY OVERHAUL: An activist investor and son of a co-founder of Pappas Restaurants is reportedly calling for change at the Cheesecake Factory. The Cheesecake Factory indicated it is aware of the proposal.

❓ Question of the Week

Have you voted yet? If so, what was your experience like?

Photo by: Yasmeen Khalifa

Early voting for the Nov. 5 election started on Monday and runs through Nov. 1. Have you hit the polls yet? If so, respond to this email and let us know what your experience was like. If not, tell us why you haven't yet and if/when you plan to vote.

Find our English voter guide here. And find our Spanish voter guide here.

📅 Events at the Chronicle

Promotional image for virtual event on how to talk to loved ones who disagree politically

Photo by: Getty / Susan Barber

TODAY: How to talk to loved ones who disagree politically

Chronicle readers are invited to a private Zoom event today at 12 p.m. CST with two noted local family counselors on how to navigate this charged election season with loved ones who disagree politically.

☝️ One Last Word

If you're a quail hunter, you're in luck. Texas hunters can expect a boost in the state's quail population this year, a new Texas Parks and Wildlife Department roadway survey revealed ahead of the season opener on Oct. 26.

While I am definitely not a hunter and will never be, I'll admit that I do love some good quail.

In Egypt where I'm from, a common dish is stuffed pigeon, which tastes very similar to quail. Would you ever try it?

— Yasmeen Khalifa