'We Could Lose Texas': Ted Cruz Warns Republicans Could Lose the Senate — and Texas — if Conservatives Stay Home
Sen. Ted Cruz told his Verdict podcast audience on Friday that Republicans could lose control of the Senate and suffer a sweeping defeat in Texas if conservative voters do not turn out on Election Day, with eight to ten Senate races effectively tied and the Texas race inside one poll's margin of error.
The warning came from inside the party. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said on the Friday episode of his podcast, The Verdict with Ted Cruz, that Republicans could lose control of the Senate and suffer a sweeping defeat in Texas if conservative voters did not turn out in large numbers on Election Day, according to the account of the episode read this cycle. Between eight and ten Senate races across the country were effectively tied, Cruz said, leaving control of the chamber uncertain.
The Texas race is the reason the warning lands here. Republican nominee Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, faces Democrat James Talarico in a state that has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1988. The Texas Southern University Barbara Jordan Center poll in this station's record put Talarico ahead 49-47 — inside its 2.19-point margin of error — and Decision Desk HQ's October 31 forecast update gave Talarico a 59 percent chance of winning, per the account. Paxton campaigned in Fort Worth on Saturday asking voters to compare records: 'Imagine what I would do as a senator,' he said. 'I'm asking you to look at my record and compare that to James Talarico.'
Cruz's point, as the account carries it, is turnout arithmetic, not a prediction: the early vote broke records in Texas — nearly 6.9 million ballots — and a tied race on paper is decided by which side's voters treat Tuesday as mandatory. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, with Bexar County polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
