Senate Democrats are pouring millions of dollars into Rep. Colin Allred’s bid to unseat two-term Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. The announcement comes as the race has become more competitive.

We’re also looking forward to the CBS News vice presidential debate on Tuesday night between Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. Jack also listens to voters talking about the presidential race. Additionally, the State Fair of Texas may ban most people from owning guns after the Texas Supreme Court denied an emergency request from the Attorney General’s office to overturn the ban. Jack Fink covers these and other stories in the latest episode of Eye On Politics. (original air date: September 29, 2024)

Big reinforcement

Late last week, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced it would make a new multimillion-dollar investment in North Texas Congressman Colin Allred’s campaign for the U.S. Senate in Texas. Allred is challenging incumbent Republican Ted Cruz, who was first elected to the Senate in 2012. The new money from DSCC will be used to pay for television advertising. This will be in addition to advertising paid for by the Allred campaign.

The average of the last three Real Clear Politics polls shows Cruz leading by five percentage points, 47% to 42%. One recent survey was conducted by the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation. It shows Cruz leading Allred by just three percentage points, 48% to 45%. The Cook Political Report still considers this race to be “Probably R.”

Jack spoke with the chairman of the Dallas County Republican Party, Retired Lt. Col. Allen West. and Dallas County Democratic Party Chairman Kardal Coleman on Senate and presidential races and the upcoming CBS News vice presidential debate between Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. Broadcast at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1 for 90 minutes. The debate will be moderated by anchor and editor-in-chief of CBS Evening News Norah O’Donnell and Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan. You can watch the debate on CBS News Texas.

Watch Jack’s interview with Allen West and Kardal Coleman here:

Vice Presidential Debate Fight

After the only vice presidential debate aired, we went to SMU to talk with Dr. Ben Voth, professor of debate and director of debate. He told Jacek what he expected from the candidates’ clash and what each of them had to do to win.

Watch Jack’s interview with Dr. Ben Voth:

Tracking battlefield states

Jack continues to track polls in battleground states.

The Real Clear Politics polling average shows there has been little movement compared to last week:

In Arizona, former President Donald Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris by two percentage points, slightly larger than last week’s lead.

In Nevada, Harris slightly increased her lead over Trump and now leads by one and four percentage points.

In Georgia, Trump is ahead by one and five percentage points, slightly less than last week.

Harris’ lead over Trump in Wisconsin narrowed slightly from last week to nine percentage points.

In Michigan, she made a slight gain and is now one and eight percentage points ahead of Trump.

In Pennsylvania, Harris is ahead by nine percentage points, down slightly from last week.

Trump has a bit more leeway in North Carolina, leading Harris by one point three percentage points – it was almost a tie last week.

Listening to voters

Jack also listened to voters talk about the presidential race when he recently went to the Plano Balloon Festival.

Watch Jacek’s conversation with voters:

A fair fight

Big Tex is once again welcoming people to the Texas State Fair, and a controversial new gun ban policy will remain in effect. That’s because on Thursday evening, the Texas Supreme Court unanimously ruled 9-0 against the Attorney General’s emergency motion to overturn the Fair’s new policy. Three justices of the state’s highest civil court sharply criticized the Attorney General’s office for failing to take a position on whether Fair, a private entity, has the authority to arrest people with concealed handgun permits. The three judges said: “This is a question to which both law-abiding handgun owners and State Fair operators deserve a clear answer. This is a question to which further legal proceedings may provide a clearer answer. But that’s not the question. responded to – or even dealt with – the state’s urgent complaints before the Court. The Court cannot under any circumstances order the State Fairgrounds to allow the carrying of handguns at this year’s Fair if the party seeking such an exemption does not even argue that Texas law requires it. Do it honestly.” Paxton said the city and Fair cannot prevent Texans from carrying guns on public property if they have a concealed carry permit. However, the fair said it leases the property from the city and, as a private nonprofit, can set new policies. This changed after three people were shot there last year. The city of Dallas said it had nothing to do with Fair policy. In a statement Friday, Attorney General Ken Paxton said: “This case is not over. I will continue to fight on the merits to preserve Texans’ ability to defend themselves, which is protected by state law. While Texas expressly prohibits this type of gun ban, I will work with the Legislature this session to protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens on public property.”