Four top takeaways from the 2018 Texas midterm elections
Historic turnout, unusually tight races and a "blue wave" that didn't quite break. Full Story
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![Voters cast their ballots in midterm elections in Houston, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Democrats were aiming for historic wins in 2018. What they got instead was hope for 2020.
Republicans won every statewide office in Texas, as they have in every election for the past 20 years. But Democrats are taking heart in their narrow losing margins. Full Story
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![Beto O'Rourke speaks to his supporters after losing to Ted Cruz in the 2018 midterm elections, in El Paso on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Analysis: One last Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke Texas election headline
It was a tighter race than the Republicans or the Democrats initially expected, but in the end, Ted Cruz won another six years in the U.S. Senate over Democrat Beto O'Rourke. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.]()
Credit: Rodolfo Gonzalez: O'Rourke/Marjorie Kamys Cotera: Cruz -
Watch victory, concession speeches from Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, defeated U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, after an intense campaign battle that drew national attention. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, both campaigning on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, O'Rourke in Dallas, Cruz in Victoria.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson: O'Rourke/Bob Daemmrich: Cruz -
Ted Cruz defeats Beto O'Rourke in difficult re-election fight
The race between Cruz and O'Rourke emerged as one of the hottest in the country, with Democrats hopeful that O'Rourke could break the Texas GOP's iron grip on statewide offices. Full Story
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![U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz gives his victory speech after defeating Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke, in Houston on Nov. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Photos: Beto O'Rourke or Ted Cruz? Texas voters explain their midterm votes
From abortion to immigration, here are some of the issues Texas voters said mattered most to them in the U.S. Senate race. Full Story
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Uncertainty hangs over Texas as voters head to the polls this Election Day
From the intense battle between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke to hard-fought, well-funded races lower on the ballot, what happens on Election Day could reset — or reaffirm — the trajectory of Texas politics. Full Story
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With more competitive races than usual, Texas saw deluge of outside spending
A hotly contested U.S. Senate race and an expanded congressional battlefield attracted a flood of super PAC spending to Texas in the general election. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Emily Albracht -
Livestream: Watch Texas midterm election results roll in with The Texas Tribune and KXAN
The Texas Tribune and KXAN-TV in Austin are partnering to provide live, on-air results and analysis on the 2018 Texas midterm elections. Tune in Tuesday night. Full Story
![Voters cast their ballots in midterm elections in Houston, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Here's how Texas voted in every U.S. Senate election since 1961
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz won re-election in 2018 against Democrat Beto O'Rourke by about 2.6 percentage points. Here's a look at the margins of victory for every U.S. Senate election in Texas since 1961. Full Story
![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.]()
Credit: Rodolfo Gonzalez: O'Rourke/Marjorie Kamys Cotera: Cruz -
Cruz, O'Rourke blitz state in final weekend of campaigning
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his Democratic rival, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, made their closing arguments Saturday as they embarked on their last weekend of campaigning in the hotly contested race. Full Story
![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, both campaigning on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, O'Rourke in Dallas, Cruz in Victoria.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson: O'Rourke/Bob Daemmrich: Cruz -
Texas voter turnout in 2018 races toward presidential election year levels
At the end of early voting on Friday, turnout in the state's largest counties already surpassed the entire turnout of the 2014 midterm elections. Full Story
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![A long line of voters wait to cast their ballots at the Wonderland of the Americas Mall in San Antonio late Friday afternoon, Nov. 2, the last day of early voting.]()
Credit: Robin Jerstad for The Texas Tribune -
Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke entered Congress at the same time. Here’s what they have accomplished.
Over their six years in Congress, what have Cruz and O'Rourke gotten done? We dug into their legislative histories and asked both men for their top accomplishments in the Capitol. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato: O'Rourke/Shelby Knowles/Capitol Hill/Ulysses Romero: Cruz -
Beto O'Rourke camp says spending highlighted in Project Veritas video went to charity, will be "appropriately reported"
After a controversial conservative group released an undercover video featuring O’Rourke’s staffers, his campaign said that those staffers "took it upon themselves" to use campaign funds to donate supplies to an El Paso nonprofit. Full Story
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![Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Beto O'Rourke speaks at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 29, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
How a super PAC helping Beto O'Rourke by bashing Ted Cruz can hide who's funding it
A super PAC called Texas Forever has spent more than $1.29 million on anti-Cruz TV ads just in the past two weeks, but it won't have to disclose its donors until after the election. Full Story
![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.]()
Credit: Rodolfo Gonzalez: O'Rourke/Marjorie Kamys Cotera: Cruz -
Ted Cruz hasn't distanced himself from Steve King — once a valuable ally — in final days of race against Beto O’Rourke
King has long made inflammatory comments on race, ethnicity and immigration. Full Story
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![Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, greets Sen. Ted Cruz at King's annual pheasant hunt at the Hole N' the Wall Lodge in Akron, Iowa on Saturday, October 31, 2015.]()
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Beto O'Rourke's 1998 DWI arrest featured in Republican super PAC TV ad
A GOP super PAC, ESAFund, has gone on TV with a commercial invoking Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke's 1998 drunk-driving arrest. Full Story
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![Beto O'Rourke's early voting rally in San Jacinto Plaza and walking through downtown to vote at the county courthouse in El Paso on Mar. 2, 2018.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
In getting out the vote, Cruz turns to Abbott's infrastructure while O'Rourke builds his own
It's get-out-the-vote time in the U.S. Senate race, and both sides are going different routes to turn out their voters. Full Story
![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.]()
Credit: Rodolfo Gonzalez: O'Rourke/Marjorie Kamys Cotera: Cruz -
Beto O’Rourke is betting big on Facebook ads: He’s spent more than $6 million in six months.
U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s spending in particular on the site suggests Facebook is playing a bigger role in his race this year than in any other in Texas — and possibly the country. Full Story
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![U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso (left), is challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera: O'Rourke/Bob Daemmrich: Cruz -
Beto O'Rourke received threatening messages from pipe bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc, his campaign says
State Rep. Poncho Nevárez, D-Eagle Pass, was also told by the FBI that the suspected bomber had researched him. Full Story
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![Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke speaks during a town hall meeting in Houston on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune