Former President Trump, center, is greeted by Sen. Ted Cruz, left, and Sen. Lindsey Graham in June in Washington, D.C. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former President Trump has endorsed Cruz in his re-election bid, a move that may comfort some Texas Republicans.
The big picture:Trump-backed candidates in several state and local races won their Republican primaries, even beating long-standing incumbents in some cases.
Brandon Gill, son-in-law of Dinesh D'Souza, won the GOP primary to replace U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, a Denton County Republican who's retiring after 11 terms.
Former Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson will be a state legislator after winning in a runoff against incumbent Justin Holland of Rockwall.
What they're saying: "While I have Endorsed Ted, on numerous occasions, verbally, because of the Importance of the Race, and Ted's Importance to the future of our Country, I thought the Endorsement should be memorialized in writing," Trump wrote on Truth Social last week.
Trump also reminded Texans that he "won big" in the state in 2016 and 2020.
The intrigue: Allred pointed to Cruz's affiliation with Trump during their debate last week, calling Cruz "the architect" of the attempt to overthrow the election, leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. Cruz laughed at Allred's claim.
Cruz didn't answer a question during the debate on whether he believed the 2020 election was stolen, a claim that has been widely debunked.
What happened: Cruz was objecting to the certification of Arizona's 2020 election results when rioters breached the building.
At a Senate committee hearing in 2022, Cruz described the insurrection as a "violent terrorist attack." He later walked back that comment on Fox News, saying he was only referring to the people who attacked police officers and not the rest of the mob who objected to the 2020 election results.
