Getty Ted Cruz vs Beto O'Rourke
Ted Cruz vs. Beto O’Rourke for Senate has been a big, contentious battle in Texas that has caught national attention. Now it’s down to the wire, and the two candidates are neck-in-neck.
Around 8:32 p.m. Central, CNN was reporting that O’Rourke was in the lead, but the race is very close. CNN reported, with an estimated 72 percent of votes in, that O’Rourke had 50.0 percent to Cruz’s 49.5 percent. This gave O’Rourke 2,729,594 votes to Cruz’s 2,705,385 votes as of 8:32 p.m. However, O’Rourke’s lead did not last.
By 8:55 p.m. Central, CNN was reporting that Cruz was now in the lead. Cruz had 50.4 percent to O’Rourke’s 49.0 percent, giving Cruz 2,902,232 votes to O’Rourke’s 2,824,571 votes.
Meanwhile, ABC 13 in Houston was reporting at 8:30 p.m. with 4.1 percent of precincts reporting that O’Rourke was leading with 50.7 percent to Cruz’s 48.2 percent. But by 8:54 p.m., with 12 percent of precincts reporting, ABC 13 was showing Cruz in the lead with 50 percent to Beto’s 49.3 percent. This gave Cruz 2,895,815 votes to O’Rourke’s 2,854,539 votes. Dikeman, the Libertarian candidate, has 35,547 votes and 0.6 percent.
By 9:15 p.m. Central, ABC 13 was reporting that Cruz had won the election. With 12 percent of precincts reporting, Cruz had 50 percent to Beto’s 49.3 percent.
The above results are being constantly updated. In Texas, most polls closed at 7 p.m., but some Harris County polls stayed open an hour later because the polling locations experienced so many problems this morning. Texas also has a law that anyone who is in line at a polling location at 7 p.m. (or whenever the closing time is) will still be able to vote.
Texas has had a huge voter turnout for this election, and the Cruz-Beto race is no doubt helping. One of the most recent controversies involved a Project Veritas video claiming that O’Rourke’s campaign had illegally used campaign funds to help potential immigrants in a caravan in Mexico. O’Rourke’s campaign clarified what happened, explaining that staff had taken it upon themselves to use less than $300 in campaign funds to donate supplies to an El Paso nonprofit to help people in need, Texas Tribune reported.
Meanwhile, Cruz and O’Rourke were close in the polls, even leading up to election day.
This is a developing story.