Ted Cruz and Colin Allred to face off in the only debate in Texas Senate race

Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Democratic Representative Colin Allred will take the stage Tuesday to square off in the only debate in the Texas Senate race.

It's a unique opportunity for Rep. Allred, who is challenging a solid incumbent with a long history in the Upper House.

In most state polls, Cruz leads Allred within the margin of error, trailing the Democratic challenger by three to four points.

While Cruz's lead looks solid, Democrats view Texas as one of their few chances to win back a Senate seat in the 2024 general election.

Democrats are focusing mostly on keeping their indecisive seats in Montana, Ohio and West Virginia which Republicans have their eyes on in hopes of regaining control of the upper chamber.

However, Democrats believe they can repeat the epic Beto O'Rourke scenario from 2018. He came in just over 200,000 votes short of unseating Senator Cruz, who won by a close race.

In fact, the Republican senator has called on voters to take the race very seriously, as Allred has a real chance of winning, according to national polls. His campaign is spending a lot of money.

"Chuck Schumer and George Soros are flooding over $100 million into the state of Texas. I'm getting pounded every day. We had a poll that came out yesterday—showed it is a one-point race. And we're getting viciously outspent," Cruz said Monday during an appearance on Fox News.

According to Federal Election Commission reports, both candidates have raised nearly $100 million and tens of millions more were directed to outside groups, making this race one of the most expensive nationally.

According to AP, Allred, a three-term congressman from Dallas and former NFL player, will have the "chance to boost his name identification to a broad Texas audience."

The congressman has made abortion one of his main campaign issues, sharply questioning Texas' statewide ban and his Republican challenger's pro-life stance.

Cruz portrayed Allred as "too" progressive and opted to push his successful legislative record as his racehorse.

In an attempt to respond to Cruz's criticism, Allred has attempted to portray himself as a moderate, drawing endorsements from former Republican Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, both politicians despised today within the Republican Party.

Democrats are hoping to further improve their chances in Texas, which has been a Republican stronghold for decades.

In fact, since former President Barack Obama lost Texas by more than 15 percentage points in 2012, Democrats have significantly improved their performance in the state. In 2016, former President Donald Trump won by nine percentage points, and four years later, he won by less than six. Democrats are clinging to this statistic to try to flip one of the few competitive seats held by a Republican.