Exit poll: More native Texans voted for O’Rourke than Cruz

More native born Texans voted for Democrat Rep. Beto O’Rourke than incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in their Texas Senate race, according to an exit poll from CNN.

While Cruz won reelection by roughly 2 1/2 percentage points, O’Rourke beat Cruz by 3 percentage points among those born in Texas.

Fifty-one percent of respondents in the exit poll who said they were from Texas originally voted for O’Rourke, while 48 percent of native Texans said they went for Cruz.

{mosads}In contrast, 57 percent of respondents who said they moved to the state voted for Cruz, compared to 42 percent who voted for O’Rourke.

O’Rourke himself is a native of El Paso and represented the district in Congress. Cruz is originally from Canada but grew up in Texas.

The face-off between the two became one of the most nationally watched and heavily scrutinized races of the midterm election season.

O’Rourke was seeking to become the first Democrat to represent Texas in the Senate since 1988.

Even though he lost, O’Rourke has already garnered buzz about a possible 2020 presidential run. Seen as a rising star in the Democratic party, #Beto2020 was trending on Twitter almost immediately after he lost his Senate race.

Numerous celebrities tweeted their support for O’Rourke and many urged him to run for president in 2020.