Democrat Senate hopeful Colin Allred has unveiled a new “Republicans for Allred Coalition” as part of his campaign against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
Many of the “Republicans” listed as part of the coalition, however, have been roundly rejected by Republican voters.
Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman from Illinois who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, will lead the coalition. Kinzinger moved to Houston after deciding not to run for re-election.
Former State Rep. Jason Villalba will join him as co-chair. Defeated in the Republican primary in 2018, Villalba also ran an unsuccessful campaign for Dallas mayor in 2019, coming in seventh place out of nine candidates on the ballot.
Other former state lawmakers on the list include Todd Smith, who left the Texas House in 2013, after running a failed campaign for the Texas Senate. He was replaced by Jonathan Stickland.
Former State Rep. Bennett Ratliff is also listed as a coalition member. The son of former State Sen. Bill Ratliff, Bennett only served one term in the Texas House before being defeated by Matt Rinaldi in 2014. When Ratliff attempted a comeback in 2016, he lost by an even bigger margin.
Kinzinger, along with some of the other “Republicans” in the coalition, have also endorsed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump.
Cruz, meanwhile, announced the launch of his “Democrats for Cruz” coalition earlier this year, which most notably includes current Democrat Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
