Regarding Allred's campaign: when I was a kid my father had a very good friend who was witty and charismatic and also an alcoholic. His name was Mark. Mark's dad had some land near Brownwood and my dad and Mark and I would go dove hunting on it. Because of his drinking, Mark wasn't in real good physical shape and also he wasn't the world's best shot, but he wasn't a dangerous drunk.
Anyway, my dad and I were out walking through the fields but Mark liked to hang around the stock tank because the doves would fly in, land, and he wouldn't have to try to shoot them on the wing. He explained to us that his idea was that he "liked to hit 'em while they are in park." I get the feeling that that's Allred's strategy. He knows that Cruz's support is baked in and that there's nothing he can do to change it. There's also likely nothing he could have done in the last few months to raise his own support. I mean, if Spanish-speaking Beto couldn't win while hitting every single county, football field, Dairy Queen etc ... in the state, how's Allred going to win? So Allred's just going to hang around the rim, rope-a-dope a complacent Cruz, unleash a massive media blitz with about seven weeks left, and ride a Kamala/Walz tide in, hoping to hit Cruz while he's in park.