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| Turnout | 53.01%  (of registered voters)42.07% (of voting age population)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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   Cruz: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% O'Rourke: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Tie: 40–50% 50% No data | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Texas |
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 Government |
The 2018 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 6, 2018, along with other elections to the United States Senate and elections to the United States House of Representatives in additional states. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz secured a second term, defeating Democratic candidate Beto O'Rourke. The primary for all parties was held on March 6, 2018, making it the first primary of the 2018 season.[2] As Cruz and O'Rourke both won majorities in their primaries, they did not participate in the May 22 runoff primary that was held for some nominations in Texas.[3]
No Democrat has won a general election for statewide office in Texas since Bob Bullock was reelected as lieutenant governor in 1994, with election forecasters declaring it a safe Republican seat at the beginning of the 2018 cycle.[4] However, O'Rourke gradually closed the gap,[5] and leading up to the election, the race was considered unexpectedly competitive.[6]
On Election Day, Cruz defeated O'Rourke[7] by a margin just short of 215,000 votes, or 2.6 percent; the race was the closest U.S. Senate race in Texas since 1978.[8]
- ^ "Turnout and Voter Registration Figures (1970-current)".
- ^ "Texas 2018 General Election". The Green Papers. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
- ^ Legislatures, National Conference of State. "2018 State Primary Election Dates". www.ncsl.org.
- ^ Miller, Justin (June 6, 2018). "Meet the Merry Band of Texas Democrats Running for Statewide Office". Texas Observer. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
- ^ Mehta, Dhrumil (August 31, 2018). "How Much Trouble Is Ted Cruz Really In?". 538. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
- ^ Golshan, Tara (September 12, 2018). "Ted Cruz's surprisingly competitive battle against Beto O'Rourke, explained". Vox. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
- ^ "Ted Cruz wins Texas Senate race, fending off challenge from Beto O'Rourke". CBS News. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
- ^ "Ted Cruz's margin of victory over Beto O'Rourke was even slimmer than we thought - HoustonChronicle.com". www.houstonchronicle.com. December 6, 2018.