Allred ties reproductive rights to the economy in meeting with Dallas business leaders
Abortion laws in Texas are having impacts on every aspect of residents lives, Democratic Rep. Colin Allred said at an Oct. 31 meeting with North Texas business leaders.
That includes businesses trying to attract and retain talent to the state, he said.
Former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, who joined Allred along with 15 other business leaders and former government officials, mentioned a friend whose daughter won’t return to Texas after college because of the climate created by the state’s abortion ban.
“We’ve got to turn the tide, and we’ve got to get back to the moderate norm where we focus on facing and passing the issues that are important to us,” Whitley said.
He mentioned Allred’s support of the CHIPS and Science Act helping to bring grant funding to support to businesses across Texas.
“That’s bipartisanship. That’s why I’m here,” Whitley said.
Allred is facing Republican Ted Cruz for a U.S. Senate seat, a tight race that could have a say in which party controls the Senate after the Nov. 5 election.
People want to come to North Texas because it’s a problem solving place rather than a partisan place, said former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings.
“Big businesses come to Texas for a lot of reasons, but not because of Ted Cruz,” Rawlings said.
He added that employees of businesses relocating to Texas are scared of what Rawlings referred to as Cruz’s, “mentality and narrative.”
“It’s not good for what we want to be as a community,” he said.
Fellow former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk echoed Rawlings sentiments
“If you think reproductive freedom isn’t a business issue, call any college president in this city right now and ask them how many faculty they’ve lost,” Kirk said.
He referenced his experience sitting on corporate and smaller business boards, and noted the universal concern that talent attraction has gotten more difficult because of abortion restrictions.
Kirk argued Allred would be better at addressing this issue to make Texas a more attractive place for top talent coming to the state.
For businesses to thrive, businesses need certain conditions in place Allred said.
“One of those is fundamental freedoms, and in this case we’ve had a fundamental freedom taken away,” he said.
Allred also touted his support of the CHIPS Act and the 2021 Infrastructure Bill as being crucial to the state’s thriving economy.
Cruz, who has held the Senate seat since 2013, voted against both bills, which Allred used to argue the state’s economy is growing in spite of the incumbent senator.
Cruz has responded throughout the campaign that Allred’s support of Biden administration policies resulted in double digit inflation impacting Texas residents.
Allred is trying to become the first Democrat to win statewide in Texas in the 21st Century, while Cruz is seeking a third term in office.
With less than a week before election day, internal polling released by the Allred campaign shows the race in a dead heat. However, poling aggregators like 538 and RealClearPolitics have Cruz ahead by roughly three to four points.
Cruz will make the final stop of his bus tour in Texas Friday afternoon, with a rally at the River Ranch Stockyards in Fort Worth.
Early voting in Texas wraps up at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 7:08 PM.
.jpg)