Democratic Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, who has pushed for police accountability and tougher gun laws after the Uvalde school shooting, announced Monday he will run for U.S. Senate in 2024.
Uvalde is in the state senator’s district. He has been one of the most prominent faces of the tragedy, voicing the concerns of victim’s families, and making an emotional pitch to voters and lawmakers to change gun laws.
However, in his campaign launch, Sen. Gutierrez hinted he will try to expand his message to voters.
“I’m running against Ted Cruz because everything that we’ve seen in this state has been nothing but taking care of rich people while the poor people, the working class, get screwed over,” he said in his nearly four-minute launch video.
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The video also noted Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment, Senator Cruz’s controversial trip to Cancun during a lethal winter storm, abortion, and immigration.
“What happened in Uvalde wasn’t just about guns, it was about neglect,” said Gutierrez.
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He becomes the second Texas Democrat to embark on a longshot bid to deny Republican Sen. Ted Cruz a third term representing the nation's biggest red state.
In May, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred became the first to enter the race. Allred said his campaign has since raised more than $6 million from more than 97,000 donors.
“Our campaign is laser-focused on beating Ted Cruz, and we are happy to welcome anyone who shares that mission into this race,” Allred’s campaign manager Paige Hutchinson wrote to NBC 5.
Gutierrez and Allred will square off in the March 5, 2024 primary. After that, the primary winner will face Cruz, the presumptive Republican nominee, on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
Cruz campaign spokesperson Nick Maddux wrote, “We welcome Senator Gutierrez to the race. Texans will now get to watch Colin Allred and Roland Gutierrez slug it out for who can be the most radical leftist in the state. Meanwhile, Sen. Cruz will continue passionately defending Texas and delivering real results for 30 million Texans.”
Allred or Gutierrez will have a tough road in November. A Democratic candidate has not won statewide office in Texas in nearly thirty years. Cruz and his campaign team are some of the most experienced political operators in the state: upsetting former Lt. Governor David Dewhurst in his first race for senate, taking the 2016 GOP presidential primary against Donald Trump to the nominating convention, and surviving Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 run in a strong year for democrats across the country.
The announcements from Gutierrez and Allred set up a rare competitive Democratic primary for a major race in Texas, where decades of Republican dominance have often discouraged bigger-name Democrats from running statewide.
Some democrats hope a competitive race will draw more attention to their cause.
State Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, called both Allred and Gutierrez “high quality.”
“Primaries can be tough, but a vigorous one will raise the name ID of the nominee, hone their skills, and help build excitement for the general election,” Zwiener wrote on Twitter.
Gutierrez was little known beyond his South Texas district until a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. He spent the next year making impassioned pleas for tougher gun laws and firings over police waiting more than an hour to confront the gunman. He was a San Antonio city councilman and Texas state representative until he unseated a Republican in the sprawling southwest senate district 19.
Both Gutierrez and Allred are likely to draw attention to Cruz's voting to reject the certification of President Joe Biden's victory over former President Donald Trump in 2020. Allred has also accused Cruz of abandoning Texas by going on vacation with his family during a deadly winter storm a few weeks later.
Cruz will likely point to concerns about the number of immigrants crossing illegally over the state’s southern border and democratic efforts for stricter gun laws. Republicans successfully focused in on the gun issue in 2020 against former Congressman O’Rourke’s unsuccessful race for governor.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is reportedly considering running for the Democratic nomination but so far he hasn't announced his candidacy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
