Several media outlets announced the race for Cruz a couple of hours after the polls closed in Texas. With 73% of the votes counted, Cruz was leading with 54% of the votes compared to Allred’s 44%.

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Cruz, who won a third term, has become a polarizing figure in Texas and rose to prominence as part of the Tea Party insurgent wave. During the campaign, he touted his record of working with Democrats in the Senate. The son of a Cuban immigrant also blamed Democrats for the surge of migrants at the border. This cycle, he became a target for vacationing in Cancun, Mexico, during a deadly winter storm that hit the state in 2021 and left more than 200 people dead.

Allred, a Dallas-area member of Congress who played linebacker at Baylor University and for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, has become a rising star within the Democratic Party. He defeated Republican Rep. Pete Sessions in his run for the seat in 2018, and redistricting in 2020 made the district much more favorable for Democratic candidates. The Texas Democrat made abortion access a central part of his campaign.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee recently announced that would include Texas in a “multi-million dollar” initiative to fund television ads on behalf of Allred. The polls in recent weeks had been adjusted: a survey of he Hill and Emerson College showed Cruz leading Allred 48% to 47% with less than two weeks until Election Day.

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But their margin of victory was much more comfortable Tuesday night. In 2018, Cruz scored a three-point victory against former Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

Allred outperformed Cruz in the month leading up to Election Day, raising more than $11.8 million in the first two weeks of the month, while Cruz raised more than $9.9 million, according to federal election records. Allred raised more than $80 million, while Cruz raised more than $86.7 million, including money he raised in the years following his run in 2018.