Ted Cruz discusses Texas Senate race and college sports bill
Texas Senate Race Heats Up
Senator Ted Cruz discusses the competitive Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Tallarico, highlighting fundraising challenges and the impact of the Protect College Sports Act on college athletics.
DALLAS - FOX 4's Steven Dial spoke with Senator Ted Cruz about the Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, as well as proposed college sports legislation.
Why do you think this race is close?
"Well, look, it is a challenging midterm environment. And midterm elections are often challenging. And the reason, historically, is the out-of-power party is typically unified and they're typically ticked off. In this case, the left, they are angry and they hate Donald Trump. And so that unifies, hatred of Donald Trump unifies the left."
Does it concern you that Ken Paxton is requiring so much fundraising support?
"The last quarter, Talarico raised $27 million, and for months, Talarico's been running positive ads on TV with no opposition, and he's seeing millions flowing in from California, from Hollywood, from New York City. They want to turn Texas blue. That's always been the great white whale that they want to do. And for a long time, there were not enough Republicans who were financially supporting Ken Paxton's campaign. I'll tell you, I have raised millions of dollars for Ken Paxton and have spent millions of dollars supporting this campaign because I don't want to wake up and find Texas represented by a radical left Democrat."
HOUSTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 21: Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a campaign rally for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, at Glorious Way Church in Houston, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Brett Coomer/Housto
Why do you think Democrats like Cory Booker oppose the Protect College Sports Act?
"Well, look, Cory Booker is running for president, and he's running in the left lane of the Democrat Party. And so the only thing he is interested in is raising money from trial lawyers that want to sue the hell out of every college program, out of every conference, and from union bosses that want to unionize college athletes and have them all contribute to Democrats."
Guardrails need to be put on college sports. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. If the Protect College Sports Act passes, will it bring immediate changes to the next season?
"So I do, and this bill, as I said, brings order to the chaos. So, for example, in the transfer rule, instead of athletes being able to transfer multiple times, it sets a rule that every athlete can transfer once. After that, you're allowed a second transfer only in certain narrowly circumscribed circumstances. If your coach leaves, if your program is terminated, or if you're the victim of sexual assault or sexual harassment, other than that, If you transfer a second time, you have to sit out a year. You have to redshirt a year, which used to be the rule until the courts threw it out. That will help bring order and chaos."
What's next:
Battleground Texas is now airing weekdays at 3 PM until the end of the election.