Here's who's leading the Texas race for U.S. Senate between Cruz and Allred

Democrat Colin Allred is leading incumbent Republican Ted Cruz in the race for US Senate.

According to the Associated Press, Allred, a U.S. representative from Dallas, has 49.9% of the vote to Cruz's 48.1% with 48% of votes counted.

Cruz, of Houston, is a former Texas attorney general seeking his third term in the Senate after taking office in 2013. Allred, of Dallas, played professional football before becoming a civil rights attorney.

In Tarrant County, Cruz gained about 2 percentage points. Cruz won 50.02% of early votes in Tarrant County to Allred's 48.09%, according to unofficial early voting numbers from the county.

Texas has two senators serving six-year terms who are up for re-election on a staggered basis. Cruz was last up for re-election in 2018, when he narrowly defeated Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat who previously represented El Paso in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The race has drawn national attention as Democrats seek to retain control of the U.S. Senate. Recent polls have shown Allred only trailing Cruz by about 4 points on average.

The Democrats, with the help of the independents who vote with them, have a narrow majority of 51-49 in the upper house in Washington. Beyond Texas, Democrats are working to defend seats in Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

If Texas decided in favor of the Democrats, they would be one step closer to control.

Allred is in Dallas and Cruz is in Houston when the results come in Tuesday evening.