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State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) threw his name into the 2024 Texas Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on July 10 and has already taken aim at incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the video launching his campaign.
Gutierrez shared the video on Twitter with the comment, "Ted Cruz abandoned Texas long before he left us to die in the winter storm."
“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,” Gutierrez said in the video.
The Texas Tribune reported that Gutierrez will face U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas), who announced his candidacy in May, for the Democratic nomination in 2024. Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported that Allred, a former National Football League (NFL) player, has raised over $6 million in campaign donations. The matchup between Gutierrez and Allred is primed to be a competitive primary, a rarity in the historically red Lone Star State, KXAN said.
Gutierrez became well-known in the aftermath of the Robb tragedy, calling for law enforcement accountability and stricter gun laws, the KXAN said. About a week after the incident that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers, the Austin Journal reported that Gutierrez stood up during the Q&A portion of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's press conference and demanded that the governor hold a special session of the state legislature.
News 4 San Antonio reported that Gutierrez, a member of the Texas Legislature since 2008, scored a win earlier this year when a Texas House of Representatives committee voted in favor of a bill to raise the legal age to purchase semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. However, the legislation, House Bill (HB) 2744, failed to get on the floor of the lower chamber in time for a vote.