Texas midterm elections - as it happened: Ted Cruz wins tight Senate race against Beto O'Rourke
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Texas voters have re-elected Republican Ted Cruz to the US Senate after a tight battle with Democrat Beto O’Rourke.
The Senate seat for the Lone Star state remains ruby red after the historic 2018 midterms, though analysts said Mr O’Rourke brought a wave of Democratic voters to the ballots and could prove a viable candidate in the 2020 presidential elections.
His candidacy may have proven beneficial for Democrats like Gina Ortiz Jones whose bid to win the House of Representatives seat of Republican Will Hurd in the state’s 23rd district was too close to call.
Mr Cruz was not the only Republican to fight back against Democrats threatening the GOP’s hold on the region, however.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott also won a second term by defeating Democrat Lupe Valdez in a race whose outcome was seldom in doubt.
Mr Cruz congratulated Mr O’Rourke during a celebratory speech on Tuesday night, saying his opponent “poured his heart” into the race.
Meanwhile, Mr O’Rourke said he was “so f****** proud” of his supporters in a viral concession speech that essentially left the door open to his running against Donald Trump in 2020.
The president played a key role in the US Senate race, throwing his support behind Mr Cruz and stumping for the Republican despite the two previously hurling exchanges towards each other in the 2016 presidential election.
To catch up on how the evening progressed follow our live blog below
Please take a moment for the live blog above to load.
Polling sites are officially closing across the state of Texas, except for the nine locations in Harris County remaining opening for an additional hour due to opening delays and technological issues.
Beto O’Rourke is pulling ahead of Ted Cruz in the latest polling data coming out of Texas, with Dallas reporting their information.
Mr O’Rourke has 59 per cent of support among voters compared to 40 per cent of support for Mr Cruz.
Here's the latest polling data out of Texas via the New York Times, showing Beto O'Rourke with more than 18 per cent of a lead against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.
Beto O’Rourke is still holding a major lead against Ted Cruz with a nearly 10-percent edge against the Republican incumbent.
Beto O’Rourke isn’t the only Democratic candidate seeking to unseat Republican incumbents in Texas.
Here’s Texas' US Democratic congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones urging voters to head to their local polling sites.
Ted Cruz has closed in Beto O'Rourke's lead in the 2018 midterm elections, though the Democratic candidate still holds an edge over the Republican incumbent, according to the New York Times.
Beto O'Rourke's lead against Ted Cruz appears to be slightly widening as polling data comes in from Houston, a major city in Texas. It's still extremely early and only one per cent of the total ballots have been reported.
Beto O'Rourke has posted this message to voters, encouraging those currently in lines at the polls to stay put.
Beto O'Rourke and Ted Cruz are in a statistical tie as polling data comes in across Texas, but these numbers will likely change greatly as information continues to roll in.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments