The Texas Senate race between Sen. Ted Cruz (R) and Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) has been shifted in the Democrat’s direction by the Cook Political Report, a major nonpartisan election handicapper.
Cook shifted the race from its “likely Republican” column to “lean Republican” on Friday, stating that recent polling suggests a tighter race.
{mosads}Earlier this week, a Texas Lyceum poll released Wednesday showed the race between the two is neck and neck, with Cruz leading O’Rourke 41 percent to 39 percent among likely voters.
Cook also noted a Gravis Marketing (R)(IVR) poll from early July that showed Cruz with a 9-point lead over O’Rourke, 51-42 percent.
Texas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in three decades, but the party thinks it has a chance to pull off an upset with O’Rourke, who raised more than $10.4 million in his second fundraising quarter.
Cruz, who ran for president in 2016 and tangled with President Trump during the campaign, reportedly raised $4 million over the same period of time, which brought him to $10 million in cash-on-hand, according to the Houston Chronicle.