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For the Texas senate race, we believe that Beto will win the election. As Beto has run for office, he has received the most funding of any candidate running for senate which means that he has been able to make his name known around the state and country. In addition, Beto has gone to every single county in Texas despite party race or ethnicity which shows his main goal of using unity to win the election rather than using a bi-partisan approach. Although he has received so much attention from many citizens of Texas and other political candidates, Texas’s history of being a predominantly Republican state works greatly against him. If you look at the history of Texas Senate Races, it is very rare for democrats to come close to winning an election but Beto has taken a very different approach from many past candidates. Beto’s approach of appealing directly to the people on matters very personal to Texas and focusing on solving issues rather than attacking his opponents makes it likely that Beto will win the election.

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Texas' Demographic: 74.8% Caucasian, 11.9% African American, 5.8% other races, 4.4% Asian, 2.5% two or more races, and .5% Native North Americans.

77% are affiliated with a Christian based faith, 4% are affiliated with non-Christian based faiths, and 18% report no affiliation with any religion in particular.

50.4% are females and 49.6% are males.

Voter Turnout: This year's turnout rate dropped slightly from 46.1 percent in 2008 to 42.6 percent in 2016.

Voter Registration Laws:

A United States citizen;

A resident of the Texas county in which application for registration is made;

At least 18 years old on Election Day;

Not finally convicted of a felony, , if so convicted must have parole, or supervision, or completed a period of probation ordered by any court;

Not determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be (1) totally mentally incapacitated; or (2) partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.

Registration - at least 17 years old and 10 months

Early Voting- can be done by mail or by person

Possible ids: 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 concealed 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

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Ted Cruz is a republican and is the incumbent in the Texas senate race. Ted Cruz Cruz previously worked as a law clerk to Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist. He then worked as the associate deputy attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice and the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 to 2008. In 2012, Cruz ran for a senate seat. He won the seat that was vacated by republican Kay Bailey Hutchinson.  He is the incumbent and it will not be his first time running. Cruz describes his views as "constitutionally conservative."

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Beto O'rourke is the democratic candidate for the Texas senate seat. Beto O’rourke spent many years running a technology company named Stanton Street in el paso prior to entering politics. Beto ran for El Paso City Council in 2005 and served for two terms before running for U.S. Congress in 2012, taking on an eight-term incumbent and winning.  In Congress, Beto serves on the House Committees for Armed Services and Veterans Affairs. This will be Beto’s first time running for a senate seat. Beto describes his viewpoints as " aligned with the democratic party."

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Neal Dikeman is the third party candidate for the Texas senate seat. Neal Dikeman has spent years working as a venture capitalist at Jane Capital, the firm he co founded at age 25 and helped build into a leading player in cleantech (the parent company of YellowPages) and at Shell Oil. In addition to working as a venture capitalist, Neal has personally founded 7 startup companies ranging from software to energy. This is Neal’s first time seeking a public office and will be his first time running for senate. Neal Dikeman describes his viewpoint as

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The incumbent is a republican, Senator Ted Cruz. The challengers are Beto O'rourke, who won the democratic primary, and Neil Dikeman, a 3rd party candidate.

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Lowry, Bryan. “McCaskill at Town Hall: 'My Job Isn't to Fight the President'.” Kansascity, The Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article167837347.html.

“Texas Population 2018.” Texas Population 2018 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs), worldpopulationreview.com/states/texas-population/.

“Voter Registration in Missouri.” DMV.ORG,
www.dmv.org/mo-missouri/voter-registration.php.

NateSilver538. “Missouri - 2018 Senate Forecast.” FiveThirtyEight, 5 Nov. 2018, projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/senate/missouri/#deluxe.

Hakim, Danny. “Josh Hawley, Missouri Senate Candidate, Oversees an Office in Turmoil.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/josh-hawley-senate-missouri.html.

“Beto O'Rourke Closes in but Ted Cruz Still Holds Narrow Lead in Texas Senate Race.” Dallas News, 30 Oct. 2018, www.dallasnews.com/news/2018-elections/2018/10/29/beto-orourke-closes-ted-cruz-still-holds-narrow-lead-texas-senate-race.

Rosenbaum, Jason. “8 Things to Look for in Tuesday's Pivotal Missouri Midterm Elections.” St. Louis Public Radio, news.stlpublicradio.org/post/8-things-look-tuesday-s-pivotal-missouri-midterm-elections.

“Polls.” RealClearPolitics - Election 2018 - Missouri Senate - Hawley vs. McCaskill, www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/senate/mo/missouri_senate_hawley_vs_mccaskill-6280.html.

Admin. “MO Senate Ballot Test.” Trafalgar Group, 5 Nov. 2018, www.trafalgarstrategy.com/news/mo-sen-survey-nov-4-2018/.

McCaskill, Claire. “Senator Claire McCaskill.” About Claire | U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, 2018, www.mccaskill.senate.gov/about-claire#2000.

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/.

“Beto O'Rourke.” Ballotpedia, Ballotpedia, ballotpedia.org/Beto_O%27Rourke.

Campbell, Japheth. “Meet Japheth.” Japheth Campbell for Liberty Committee, June 2018, www.campbell4liberty.com/about.

Cruz, Ted. “Meet Ted.” Ted Cruz for Senate, www.tedcruz.org/meet-ted/.

Dikeman, Neil. “Neal's Bio.” Neal Dikeman for Senate, Neil Dikeman for Senate, www.nealdikeman.com/neal_s_bio.

Hakim, Danny. “Josh Hawley, Missouri Senate Candidate, Oversees an Office in Turmoil.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/josh-hawley-senate-missouri.html.

Hawley, Josh. “About.” Josh Hawley, 2018, joshhawley.com/about/.

McCaskill, Claire. “Senator Claire McCaskill.” About Claire | U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, 2018, www.mccaskill.senate.gov/about-claire#2000.

O'rourke, Beto. “About Beto.” Beto for Senate, 2018, betofortexas.com/about/.

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/.

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The incumbent is a democrat, Claire McCaskill. The challenger is a republican, Josh Hawley.
McCaskill won her primary with 82.6% of the vote while Hawley won his primary with 58.6% of the vote. The third party candidate is a libertarian, Japheth Campbell.

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For the Missouri Senate Race, we believe that incumbent Claire McCaskill will win the election.
McCaskill has been elected already for 2 terms, in 2006 and in 2012, and has skillfully defeated her opponents in one of the most independent political landscapes in the nation. As an incumbent who has raised a significant amount of funding in individual contributions, McCaskill has the upperhand over Hawley in terms of name recognition. McCaskill is also known for her incredibly independent political stance, right in the middle of the spectrum. She has been able to tailor her language to highlight her working with Republicans and adopting Trump-like language in her speeches. Hawley has been unable to connect with the Democrats of Missouri, and thus does not share bipartisan support like that of McCaskill. By distancing herself from the left, McCaskill is at risk of losing the vote of black communities as well as those of the Progressive Left, who feel that their interests are no longer being best met by McCaskill’s agenda. McCaskill most definitely needs the black vote in order to clinch the win in such a close race. Fellow Democrats such as Emanuel Cleaver believe that the McCaskill has best represented black interests from the very beginning, and that African Americans will continue to support her in this election.

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Polls:
Emerson(10/28-10/30)

781 Likely Voters

MoE-3.7

50 for Cruz, 47 for Beto

CNN(10/9-10/13)

716 Likely Voters

MoE-4.5

52 for Cruz, 45 for Beto

UT/Texas Tribune(10/15-10/21)

927 Likely Voters

MoE-3.2

51 for Cruz, 45 for Beto

The sources are credible because they are made of well known news sources and a public university. The polls show that Ted Cruz will likely win, but Beto surely has a fighting chance.

Campaign Ads:

Cruz-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVebl3w3jEY
Beto-
https://www.elpasotimes.com/videos/news/politics/elections/2018/09/18/watch-beto-orourke-releases-first-spanish-language-ad-campaign-against-ted-cruz/1343688002/

Both Cruz and Beto have received much out of state funding from donors and organizations. Beto received no campaign funding frompacs.

In the 2016 election, the state of Texas voted for republican candidate, Donald Trump.

Beto has been endorsed by stars like LeBron James and Travis Scott, which helps to earn more support from younger voters.

Ted Cruz received endorsements from Donald Trump, the current president who has influential power.

Beto's Issues

1. Gun Safety: Require background checks and stop selling weapons of war/high capacity magazines

2. Immigration: Pass the DREAM act and allow people seeking refuge to stay as immigrants

3. Healthcare: Provide more healthcare coverage for the people

Cruz's Issues

1. Taxes: Wants to lower taxes

2. Gun Regulation: Strong supporter of the 2nd amendment

3. Abortion: Pro Life

The positions taken by each candidate on these issues are strongly in line with the views of their respected parties.

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Polls:
Missouri Scout(10/27-11/2)

Sample Size-741 likely voters

Margin of Error-3.5

45 for Hawley, 45 for McCaskill Tie

Fox News(10/27-10/30)

Sample Size-1424 likely voters

Margin of Error- 2.6

47 for Hawley, 47 for McCaskill Tie

Missouri Scout(10/17-10/18)

Sample Size-1215 likely voters

Margin of Error-2.7

47 for Hawley, 46 for McCaskill Hawley(R) up by 1

The sources are credible but Fox News can be more biased towards Republicans at times.These polls show that this Missouri Senate Race is going to be very close.

Campaign Ads:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/claire-mccaskill-promise--campaign-2018/2018/10/02/887baa98-c64e-11e8-9c0f-2ffaf6d422aa_video.html?utm_term=.34c1ac2b7ce5

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/editorial/josh-hawley-driven--campaign-2018/2018/09/25/1df77e64-c0fd-11e8-9f4f-a1b7af255aa5_video.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b6c4d52c16df

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Josh Hawley is a republican candidate in the Missouri senate race. Hawley is a former law professor at the University of Missouri and clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts. Hawley is the current Attorney General for Missouri. Hawley was elected as the 42nd Attorney General for the State of Missouri on Nov. 8, 2016 and was the first republican attorney general since 1993. This is Hawley’s first time running for the senate seat. Josh Hawley identifies himself a republican, but more specifically, he calls himself a “constitutional conservative.”

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Japheth campbell is the third party candidate, winning the libertarian party primary for the Missouri Senate Candidacy.. Campbell worked as a “webmaster” at Central Bible college from 1998 to 2005. He then worked as a web designer for the Shepherd of the Hills from 2005 to 2009. He then worked as a self employed web developer from 2010 to present. Japheth states the he decided to run due to the future for his family and kids being in jeopardy as well as feeling a need for someone to bear the message of liberty. This will be Japheth’s first time running for a public office as he will be seeking the Texas senate seat under the libertarian party. He describes his political views and ideologies as Libertarian.

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Calire McCaskill is the incumbent in the Missouri senate race. Claire McCaskill is a former prosecutor who went on to win a state legislature seat in Missouri (1982).  In 1992, she made history by becoming the first woman to be elected to the Jackson County Prosecutor. Claire McCaskill won reelection and served as the Jackson County Prosecutor until 1999, when she was sworn in as Missouri State Auditor. In 2004, Claire McCaskill took on her party, the democrats, in a governor race and became the only person in Missouri history defeat a sitting governor in a primary. In 2006, she became the first woman elected to the Missouri senate seat. This is not her first time running as it will be her 3rd term if she wins. Claire McCaskill has been described as “a tough moderate whose views best reflect the independent reputation of her home state.”

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McCaskill(D) is greatly funded by EMILY's list, a national political action committee that supports female candidates.

Hawley(R) has great support from Citizens United and Club for Growth.

In the 2016 election, the state of Missouri voted for republican candidate, Donald Trump.

Josh Hawley has been endorsed by Donald Trump, the current president of the United States. Claire McCaskill has been endorsed "The Kansas City Star", a major Missouri newspaper.

McCaskill's Issues

1. Expanding job opportunities: Strong supporter of providing more jobs

2. Combatting Sexual Violence: This is very important to discuss and debate

3. Cutting Wasteful Spending: America needs to be more considerate with spending

Hawley's Issues

1. Coverage of pre-existing conditions: Strongly supports this issue, but not Obamacare

2. Gun control background checks: Stronger background checks

3. Providing for veterans: They should receive more help for their service

The positions of both candidates are in line with the views of their respected parties.

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Missouri is made up as follows:

80% - White, 3.8% - Hispanic, 11.6% -Black , 1.8% Asians, 2.2% Mixed
50.9% Female, 49.1% Male
77% Christian, 3% Non-Christian Belief, 20% unaffiliated with faith

Voter Turnout in the Election 2016 in Missouri:
- 60.1% of the entire US population participated in the US election. 62.2% of Missouri’s population participated in the election.
Voter Registration Laws:

Be a U.S. citizen.

Be at least 17 1/2 years old to register, and 18 years old by Election Day.

Be a resident of Missouri.

NOT be: Incarcerated, on parole, or probation due to a felony conviction.

Convicted of a felony related to voting or elections.

One can register either by mail or in person.
When you visit the polling booth:

Missouri driver's license or non-driver ID card.

U.S. passport.

A copy of your current utility bill, bank statement, or paycheck.