Texas Democratic Senate hopeful Beto O'Rourke will duke it out against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz Tuesday night in what could be their final debate before the midterm elections on November 6.
The pair will discuss domestic and foreign policy in San Antonio at the studios of KENS-TV for an hour starting at 8 p.m. central, 9 p.m. eastern time. The debate will also air nationally on C-SPAN. You can watch all of the action online right here:
The debate will come at a critical time, as early voting in Texas begins Monday and Cruz remains between nine and five points ahead of his competitor.
O'Rourke, meanwhile, significantly outraised Cruz (and every other Senatorial candidate, ever) in the third quarter, raking in a shocking $38 million. There are three weeks left until election day, and how O'Rourke chooses to spend that money could be a game changer.
The money, O'Rourke said last week, is "going to give us the resources we need to finish this campaign as strong as we possibly can. We are doing something absolutely historic."
If O'Rourke is successful he will be the first Democrat to win a statewide election in Texas in more than a quarter of a century.
Cruz is considered a master debater, and was the star of his debate team at Princeton University. He has also debated on a national stage many times against President Donald Trump. During the last debate, he presented simplified ideas in applaudable soundbites. O'Rourke, however, held his own in presenting a message of bipartisanship unity. Cruz also lost marks with some when he was asked to say something nice about his opponent and called him a Bernie Sanders-like Socialist.
The stakes for this debate are high, as about 15 percent of Texans who have pledged to vote for Cruz and 12 percent who have said they'd vote for O'Rourke have indicated that they are willing to change their minds.
Cruz said he believes that he will ultimately win the election, partially because of the recent controversy surrounding Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. "I actually think the way the Democrats conducted themselves during the Kavanaugh hearings has had a powerful effect in waking up and energizing a lot of Texans and common-sense conservatives of just how extreme and radical the national Democrats have gotten," he said at a private fundraiser last week.
O'Rourke, meanwhile, has insisted that he has the votes to win even if they're not showing up in polling. "I've been going to places where, frankly, you all may think is not the best strategy...communities in a state that ranks 50th that have been marginalized, drawn out of their democracy and reason to vote. We're going to them and bringing them in and they're going to be reflected at the polls," he said.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Nicole Goodkind is a political reporter with a focus on Congress. She previously worked as a reporter for Yahoo Finance, ... Read more
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