Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Neptune to Launch a Creator-First, Customizable Algorithm Social Platform to Rival TikTok

20 hours ago

Kamala Harris Will Not Run for Governor of California in 2026

21 hours ago

Trump Pushes for Release of Epstein, Maxwell Grand Jury Testimony

23 hours ago

Trump Says US to Hit India With 25% Tariff Starting Friday

23 hours ago

Tariff Revenues Hit Record $150 Billion Amid Trump’s Trade Talks, Fox Business Reports

1 day ago

Israeli Minister Hints at Annexing Parts of Gaza

1 day ago

Fed Likely to Hold Rates Steady Despite Trump’s Push for Big Cuts

1 day ago

What’s Behind California’s Frozen Housing Market?

2 days ago

Marjorie Taylor Greene Is First Republican Lawmaker to Call Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide’

2 days ago
Cruz Fends Off O'Rourke in Texas Senate Race
By gvwebguy
Published 7 years ago on
November 7, 2018

Share

EL PASO, Texas — Sen. Ted Cruz fended off a spirited underdog challenge from Democrat Beto O’Rourke to win re-election on Tuesday in a Texas race that once seemed like a cakewalk but needed a late boost from President Donald Trump to help push the incumbent over the top.

Cruz began as the prohibitive favorite after his surprisingly successful 2016 presidential run, but he suddenly found himself in a tough contest against O’Rourke, a little-known El Paso congressman and one-time punk rocker who became a national political sensation and shattered fundraising records despite shunning donations from outside political groups and pollster advice.

Cruz turned back O’Rourke with the help of Trump, his bitter rival in 2016. Trump took the unexpected step of traveling to reliably Republican Texas during crunch time, staging a Houston rally to energize his base for Cruz just two weeks before Election Day. The president praised the senator as “beautiful” and smart, a far cry from two years ago when he repeatedly mocked Cruz as “Lyin’ Ted,” made fun of his wife’s appearance and suggested that Cruz’s Cuban-born father had a hand in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

O’Rourke Grabbed Glowing National Headlines

With the win, Cruz kept alive his hopes of mounting a second presidential run once Trump leaves the White House.

“It’s the time for choosing. It’s the time for action. We know that the hard-left right now, they’re angry. They’re energized. They’re filled with rage and hatred for the president. And that’s dangerous.” — Sen. Ted Cruz

O’Rourke grabbed glowing national headlines by visiting all 254 Texas counties and often drawing large crowds — even in fiercely conservative areas other Democrats had long since written off. He raked in donations from across the country and even set a new record for Senate campaign fundraising by collecting more than $38 million in the three-month period from July through September alone. All told, he raised a whopping amount — more than $70 million.

Cruz had the support of outside groups but was still being outraised 3-to-1 by the end of the race — a discrepancy he dismissed by saying the “hard left” was energized by outrage at Trump and “Texas will not be bought.”

“It’s the time for choosing. It’s the time for action. We know that the hard-left right now, they’re angry. They’re energized,” Cruz said Monday. “They’re filled with rage and hatred for the president. And that’s dangerous.”

For months, Cruz refused to entertain the notion that he’d lose, saying there are more Republicans in Texas than Democrats, so all he had to do to win was avoid conservative complacency. He also said O’Rourke’s support for impeaching Trump, relaxing federal immigration policy, decriminalizing marijuana and implementing universal health care were too liberal for even many of the state’s moderate Democrats and independents.

Still, the race laid bare that many Texas conservatives never forgave Cruz for clashing with Trump at the end of the 2016 presidential primary and for refusing to endorse him at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland — a move many saw as putting personal ambitions over party. That’s despite Cruz being one of the fiercest supporters of the president and the policies of the Republican-controlled Congress since then, despite getting to the Senate in 2012 as a tea party insurgent intent on enraging establishment leaders from both parties.

Cruz Made No Secret About Wanting to Run for President Again

Cruz, 47, made no secret about wanting to run for president again once Trump leaves office. And though he was tested by O’Rourke, avoiding what would have been a monumental upset means that remains a possibility. O’Rourke himself had been mentioned as a possible 2020 White House contender — but that was dependent on him staying within striking distance of Cruz.

“My confidence is in the people of Texas,” O’Rourke told reporters on Monday night, moments before staging a raucous rally with Mariachi band at the University of Texas at El Paso, mere blocks from his home. “I think we have every indication, based on turnout so far, that we’re going to have a very good day tomorrow.”

O’Rourke’s defeat also dashed Democrats’ decades-long hopes of a booming Texas Hispanic population flipping the country’s largest red state blue, potentially transforming the national electoral maps and all-but blocking a Republican path to the presidency. Cruz has for years warned that a Democratic Texas would mean his party would never again win the White House.

A Texas Democrat hasn’t won any of the nearly 30 statewide offices since 1994, the country’s longest losing streak.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Nathaniel Smith

DON'T MISS

Judges Question Whether Trump Tariffs Are Authorized by Emergency Powers

DON'T MISS

US Treasury Chief Says He Expects Fed Chair Announcement by Year’s End

DON'T MISS

Fresno Illustrator Debuts as Author With Gamer’s ‘100 First Words’ Children’s Book

DON'T MISS

The Trump Presidency Takes a Better Turn

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Killed in Hit-and-Run, Suspect Vehicle Located

DON'T MISS

Wall Street Jumps as Microsoft Enters $4 Trillion Club After Results

DON'T MISS

Community and Saint Agnes Named Among Best Regional Hospitals

DON'T MISS

Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field, Pilot Aided by EMS

UP NEXT

Fresno Illustrator Debuts as Author With Gamer’s ‘100 First Words’ Children’s Book

UP NEXT

Fresno Man Killed in Hit-and-Run, Suspect Vehicle Located

UP NEXT

Community and Saint Agnes Named Among Best Regional Hospitals

UP NEXT

Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field, Pilot Aided by EMS

UP NEXT

Madera Man Sentenced to 34 Years to Life in Fresno Murder Case

UP NEXT

Visalia Suspect in Fatal Assault and Serial Sexual Battery Cases Arrested in Alaska

UP NEXT

Costa Blasts GOP Over Medi-Cal Cuts. His 2026 Opponent Defends Them

UP NEXT

Could Madera Poach Stalled Costco? It’d Be ‘a Significant Financial Blow,’ Says Dyer

UP NEXT

Clovis Police Arrest Eight at DUI Checkpoint

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Navpreet Singh

US Treasury Chief Says He Expects Fed Chair Announcement by Year’s End

1 hour ago

Fresno Illustrator Debuts as Author With Gamer’s ‘100 First Words’ Children’s Book

1 hour ago

The Trump Presidency Takes a Better Turn

2 hours ago

Fresno Man Killed in Hit-and-Run, Suspect Vehicle Located

2 hours ago

Wall Street Jumps as Microsoft Enters $4 Trillion Club After Results

2 hours ago

Community and Saint Agnes Named Among Best Regional Hospitals

2 hours ago

Jet Crashes in Fresno County Field, Pilot Aided by EMS

14 hours ago

Madera Man Sentenced to 34 Years to Life in Fresno Murder Case

16 hours ago

High Noon Recalls Mislabeled Vodka Seltzers Shipped in Celsius Cans, NBC Reports

17 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: New Fresno Ordinance Targets Vacant Blighted Properties

18 hours ago

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had agreed with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to extend an existing trade deal...

46 minutes ago

President Donald Trump speaks with Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, during the "Making Health Technology Great Again" event in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 30, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
46 minutes ago

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

Nathaniel Smith is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for July 31, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
1 hour ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Nathaniel Smith

President Donald Trump speaks after signing the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 30, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
1 hour ago

Judges Question Whether Trump Tariffs Are Authorized by Emergency Powers

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attends a press conference at government quarters Rosenbad after the trade talks between the U.S. and China concluded, in Stockholm, Sweden, July 29, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

US Treasury Chief Says He Expects Fed Chair Announcement by Year’s End

1 hour ago

Fresno Illustrator Debuts as Author With Gamer’s ‘100 First Words’ Children’s Book

2 hours ago

The Trump Presidency Takes a Better Turn

2 hours ago

Fresno Man Killed in Hit-and-Run, Suspect Vehicle Located

2 hours ago

Wall Street Jumps as Microsoft Enters $4 Trillion Club After Results

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend