Houston Chronicle By Dave Montgomery 10/19/2018
Since storming into Texas politics six years ago, Ted Cruz has drawn national attention as a political giant killer, tea party champion, Senate firebrand and Donald Trump’s last rival in the battle for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
Now, with the approach of the 2018 mid-term elections, the junior senator from Texas is cast in yet another role — that of a threatened incumbent.
In a race that was initially expected to easily return Cruz to another six years in the Senate, he instead finds himself under attack from a popular Democratic challenger who has raised a jaw-dropping $61.7 million in red-state Texas, nearly twice as much as the $35 million raised by Cruz.
The mountain of cash and Beto O’Rourke’s rise have instilled Texas Democrats with the hope that maybe, just maybe, they can win a statewide election for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century.
Though one recent poll has shown Cruz with a 9-point lead, the lingering fear of a Texas upset among Republicans has served as a wake up call to stoke fund-raising and rouse the troops.
“We’re taking it very seriously,†Cruz said Thursday in a 50-minute interview at his campaign headquarters. “I’m confident we’re going to win this race, but part of the reason we’re going to win is that we’re not taking it for granted.â€
Signaling the high stakes for the campaign, President Trump will be in Houston on Monday for a Cruz rally at the Toyota Center. The 6:30 p.m. event coincides with Monday’s start of early voting in the Nov. 6 election.
Trump and Cruz may have peppered each other with name-calling and personal insults during their fight for the 2016 Republican nomination, but Trump now relies on Cruz as an important Capitol Hill ally in advancing conservative priorities and the president’s agenda.
For Cruz, a victory over O’Rourke, a three-term congressman from El Paso, is crucial to perpetuating his brand as one of the nation’s leading conservatives and preserving a political base deemed essential for possibly another run at the presidency in the post-Trump era.
The outcome of the Texas battle could also help determine whether Republicans retain their narrow control of the Senate or surrender the 100-member upper chamber to Democrats.
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