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“U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Texas.” Census Bureau QuickFacts, www.census.gov/quickfacts/tx.

“Issues.” Ted Cruz | U.S. Senator for Texas, 22 Oct. 2014, www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=issues.

“Issues.” Beto for Senate, betofortexas.com/issues/.

Wallace, Jeremy. “Another Poll Confirms Ted Cruz vs Beto O'Rourke Race Is Tight.” HoustonChronicle.com, Houston Chronicle, 22 Aug. 2018, www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Another-poll-confirms-Ted-Cruz-vs-Beto-O-Rourke-13176949.php.

“Texas Election Results 2016.” The New York Times, The New York Times, www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/texas.

Lundstrom, Kathryn. “Beto O'Rourke Leads Ted Cruz by 2 among Likely Voters in U.S. Senate Race, New Poll Finds.” The Texas Tribune, Texas Tribune, 19 Sept. 2018, www.texastribune.org/2018/09/19/beto-orourke-leads-cruz-new-poll-texas-senate-race.

“Texas Secretary of State.” Application for a Ballot by Mail, www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/reqabbm.shtml.

“Poll: Democrat O'Rourke Trails Ted Cruz by Just 4 Percentage Points in Texas.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/poll-democrat-o-rourke-trails-ted-cruz-just-four-percentage-n902946.

“Anxiety and Optimism at Rallies for Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke as Battle for Texas Winds Down.” Dallas News, 5 Nov. 2018, www.dallasnews.com/news/2018-elections/2018/11/04/anxiety-optimism-rallies-ted-cruz-beto-orourke-battle-texas-winds.

Whyte, Luke, and Annie Daniel. “Here's Where Texas Voters Turned out and Where They Didn't.” The Texas Tribune, Texas Tribune, 9 Nov. 2016, www.texastribune.org/2016/11/09/heres-where-texas-voters-turned-out-and-where-they/.

“Ted Cruz among Co-Sponsors of Anti-LGBT Bill That Would Sanction Discrimination.” Austin LGBT Chamber, www.austinlgbtchamber.com/blog/diversity-dollars-3560/post/ted-cruz-among-co-sponsors-of-anti-lgbt-bill-that-would-sanction-discrimination-12969.

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Although this is an extremely close race, we believe that Ted Cruz will ultimately win. We believe this due to the fact that based on the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections, there was an average of 2.8 million Republican voters and an average of 1.9 million Democratic voters, which means there were approximately 900,000 more Republican voters. Based off of these numbers, it is most likely that Cruz will draw more votes to beat O'Rourke. Another reason we believe Cruz will defeat O'Rourke is because most recent polls indicate that Cruz is ahead. Although Cruz is leading O'Rourke in most polls, a question to be asked is are the polls accounting for a surge in turnout among millennials and first time voters. With this point raised, there is a possibility that O'Rourke can beat Cruz.

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Guns
O'Rourke: wants to require background checks for all gun sales; stop selling weapons of war and high-capacity magazines; block the erosion of Texas' license to carry standards; fully support federal research on gun violence in order to better understand its root causes

Cruz: Wants to protect the 2nd Amendment

Immigration
O'Rourke: pass the DREAM Act to ensure undocumented immigrants who arrived in the US as children become permanent US citizens; improve the immigration system to facilitate family reunification; end the militarization of our immigration enforcement system

Cruz: wants to strengthen border security; wants to prevent illegal aliens from receiving welfare benefits

Equality
O'Rourke: wants to guarantee that same-sex couples are entitled to access the same federal benefits as any other Texas family; wants to ensure that all Americans are paid equally and treated fairly, regardless of gender

Cruz
Supports a revived anti-LGBT bill which would make it legal for businesses and nonprofits to discriminate against same-sex couples, single parents, and unmarried couples; he is firmly opposed to gay marriage

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Beto O'Rourke: Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News,  Former CIA director John Brennan

O'Rourke's endorsements show how prominent Texas newspapers are support of him and the support of John Brennan is significant because he once held a very important position in America.

Ted Cruz: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert,  Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant

Cruz's endorsements are important because they show how multiple current governors and senators support him, unlike O'Rourke.

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On Sunday night, we recorded a live T.V. ad. Tonight, it's on the air across Texas. Take a look and help share.

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1. New York Times (Oct. 8-11, 2018)
In this poll, Ted Cruz is leading.  The poll is of a sample size of about 800 people. In the poll, Cruz has about 51% while O'Rourke has 43%. 5% are undecided. The margin of error is 3.6±.
2. The Texas Tribune (Sept. 19, 2018)
In this poll, O'Rourke leads Cruz by 2 percentage points among likely voters. This poll's credibility interval was ±3.5.

3. NBC News (Aug. 12-16, 2018)
This poll said how about 49% of registered voters were planning on voting for Cruz while about 45% said they were voting for O'Rourke. 6% said that they were undecided. There were a total of 970 people polled. The margin of error for all adults was ±3.4 percentage points while the margin of error for registered voters was ±3.8 percentage points.

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Voter Turnout for Texas in 2016 Presidential Election

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Voter Turnout for Texas in 2016 Presidential Election

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Number of Adults (2016): 20,832,609
Number of Votes Cast (2016): 8,879,738
Turnout Rate (2016): 42.62%

Percentage of Texas Voters
Trump: 52.2%
Clinton: 43.2%
Johnson: 3.2%
Stein: 0.8%
Others: 0.6%

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Female: 50.3%
White: 79.2%
African American: 12.7%
American Indian: 1.0%
Hispanic: 39.4%

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1. Be 18 years or older on election day,

2. Be a United States citizen,

3. Be a resident of the county where the application is submitted,

4. Not be finally convicted of a felony or, if so, have completed the terms of the jail sentence, probation or parole, and

5. Have not been declared by a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be either totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

6. Voter must bring any of the following to vote:

Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)

Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS

Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS

Texas Handgun License issued by DPS

United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph

United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph

United States Passport (book or card)

7. Early Voting
Voter still must bring valid acceptable identification, and if they do not have a valid ID they must sign a sworn statement of why they do not have an ID. They must also present a certified birth certificate, valid voter registration certificate, a current utility bill, government check, bank statement or paycheck, or government document with your name and address.

8. Voting by Mail
One must review the absentee ballot application and make sure they meet eligibility (be 65 years or older, be disabled, be out of the county on election day and during the period for early voting by personal appearance, or be confined by jail); fill out application completely; submit their request to their local election office far in advance of the election as possible; fill out form and mail it back.

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Has never held office before, but he did found the Jane Capital at 25 and co-founded seven other technology startups including energy and software. Dikeman was an active investor and the chairman of the Cleantech.org network and Greenhouse.com

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The New York Times conducted a poll on October 8th-11th 2018. Cruz polled at 51% O'Rourke polled at 43% and 6% said they were undecided. The margin of error for this poll was +/-3.6 and the sample size was 800. On Ballotpedia there are a total of data from 9 different polls. The average form these polls have Cruz ahead at 50.67%, with O'Rourke at 44.11% with 5.33% undecided. The Margin of error for the average of these polls is at +/-3.81 and the average sample size is 883.44.

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Filing deadline: December 11, 2017
Primary: March 6, 2018
Primary runoff: May 22, 2018 (if needed)
General: November 6, 2018

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Ted Cruz is an incumbent and has been holding the position since 2013. He was also the Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to 2008. Previously Cruz worked as a law clerk for William Rehnquist, the Chief Justice of the United States, associate deputy attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice, director of the Office of Policy Planning for the Federal Trade Commission, and the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 to 2008. Cruz got his education form Princeton University and after that went on the graduate form the Harvard law school. Cruz fits the Republican Party platform well. He opposes stricter gun ownership regulations and introduced Kate's Law to increase penalties for deported individuals who re-enter the U.S. His campaign slogan "Tough as Texas" ties his conservative ways to the state and how in Texas generally speaking we believe in low taxes, low regulation, low debt.

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Beto O'Rourke held the position in the U.S. House, Texas' 16th Congressional District in 2013 and also served on the El Paso City Council from 2005 to 2011.
Beto works for a Manhattan web tech company and co-founded Stanton Street Tech. Beto promotes a progressive policy platform on abortion, gun violence, and healthcare. He wants to reach out to conservative counties in the state because those counties vote primarily republican and he wants to change that. He highlights his work on the House Committees for Armed Services and Veterans Affairs. He has also proposed a shepherding pilot program for VA wellness center in El Paso, Texas.