Texas Senate by Kelli Teszlewicz https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4 By: Merideth, Kelli, and Ella en-us 2018-10-09 12:25:09 UTC 2018-10-24 12:37:22 UTC hello@padlet.com Beto O'Rourke teskel20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/290687640 - Democrat
- 46 years old
- U.S. Representative since 2013 in the House, representing Texas' 16th district 
- Has visited every state in the country
Some of his beliefs include providing jobs, not building the wall, everyone has access to medicine and healthcare, promote competition in the economy, stop selling weapons designed to kill. ]]> 2018-10-09 12:35:06 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/290687640 Ted Cruz teskel20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/290692184 - Republican 
- Finished second behind Mr. Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.
- Known for his formidable debating skills and his slashing verbal attacks on opponents. 
- Has not been particularly well liked in the Senate, even by other Republicans.  
- Incumbent of the election
Some of Ted Cruz´s main beliefs are wanting the economy to expand and grow, being against abortion, against healthcare and Obamacare, and supports gun rights. ]]> 2018-10-09 12:42:24 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/290692184 Candidate Websites kitell20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/290699748 https://betofortexas.com/
https://www.tedcruz.org/]]> 2018-10-09 12:54:13 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/290699748 kitell20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/291684084 We predict that Ted Cruz will win the election based off his position as the Senator before, recent polls, and his political party. 

Our first piece of evidence is that Texas is a Republican state and Ted Cruz is a strong, Republican candidate. Considering Texas hasn't voted for a Democratic candidate since 1976 which was almost 40 years ago there is a high chance they will vote for a Republican candidate again. 

Secondly, the polls in Texas that were recently conducted showed that majority of the state (51%) would vote for Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz has raised $10 million more than Beto O'Rourke in this campaign. This would help him advertise, travel around Texas, and overall boost his campaign. 

One alternative would be that O'Rourke has been involved in politics for awhile. He is experienced and has been in the House of Representatives for awhile, which means he was elected as a representative by Texas. If he was a fair, honest, and decent representative, this could help give him an advantage by gaining swing votes and changing minds that are between the two candidates. ]]> 2018-10-11 12:45:43 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/291684084 Voter Turnout nakmer19dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/292135202 Texas is ranked 8th to last in America for voter turnout, which means they have a very low amount of people showing up to vote. 
Texas hasn't voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate since 1976.
The bar graph below shows the number of Texans total in the state and compares it to how many people show up and vote for specific elections. Only half the state is registered to vote, and less than 5% of the population actually votes. ]]> 2018-10-12 12:52:49 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/292135202 Public Opinion Poll teskel20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293779003 A poll conducted by the New York Times reports that of 51,983 calls, they received 800 responses that resulted in 51% votes for Ted Cruz and a 43% votes for Beto O'Rourke. This poll had a voluntary response bias because  people had the option to respond or not. The people that did choose to participate in the poll were probably more involved in politics. ]]> 2018-10-17 11:45:41 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293779003 Voter Registration kitell20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293779541 The state of Texas requires its citizens to provide photo ID, a passport, or license in order to cast a ballot. You must register to vote. You are allowed to do early voting which is calling your county's office and casting a ballot early if you will be in jail, out of the country, sick, or disabled. Texas also allows voting by mail if you can't vote in person for the same reasons as early voting. ]]> 2018-10-17 11:47:26 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293779541 Demographics of Texas kitell20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293779609 Texas is the second most populous state in the U.S. Minorities make up a very small percentage of the population. Texas tends to be a ¨Red State,¨ and they have strong conservative values. ]]> 2018-10-17 11:47:39 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293779609 Interest Group Spending teskel20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293781601 Ted Cruz has raised $34,963054 from multiple interest groups. Some of his highest supporters are, Woodforest Financial Group, Senate Conservatives Fund, and NorPAC. 

Beto O'Rourke has raised $23,332,950 from multiple interest groups including, J Street, University of Texas, and AT&T Inc. 

]]> 2018-10-17 11:53:32 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293781601 Newspapers nakmer19dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293781749 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/elections-poll-txsen-2.html]]> 2018-10-17 11:53:58 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293781749 Campaign Spending teskel20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293783664 https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2018&id=TXS2]]> 2018-10-17 11:59:18 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293783664 2016 Presidential Election teskel20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293785374 52.6% of people in Texas voted for Donald Trump while 43.4% voted for Hillary Clinton. The state as a whole had a voter turn-out of 8,903,237 people. This means only about 28.6% of the population voted in the 2016 Presidential Election. ]]> 2018-10-17 12:04:12 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293785374 Secretary of State Website kitell20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293788434 https://www.sos.state.tx.us/ ]]> 2018-10-17 12:11:42 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293788434 Endorsements teskel20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293789127 Ted Cruz's endorsements include individuals such as Donald Trump, George W. Bush, Dan McQueen (former mayor of Corpus Christi), Greg Abbott (governor of Texas), and Konni Burton (state senator).

Beto O'Rourke's endorsements include organizations such as End Citizens United and Equality Texas, along with newspapers like, the "Houston Chronicle". ]]> 2018-10-17 12:13:21 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/293789127 Party Website kitell20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296375722 Republicans:
https://www.nrcc.org/
Democrats:
https://democrats.org/]]> 2018-10-24 11:41:14 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296375722 Local Newspaper Article kitell20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296377837 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/opinion/beto-orourke-texas-ted-cruz-barack-obama.html]]> 2018-10-24 11:47:36 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296377837 Public Opinion Polls kitell20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296378102 https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/senate/tx/texas_senate_cruz_vs_orourke-6310.html
Daily Poll:
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/senate/texas/

]]> 2018-10-24 11:48:29 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296378102 Big Issues nakmer19dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296384824 Economy
Beto O'Rourke- Promotes regulations on business and industry that protect consumers, promote competitions, and grow the economy. HE supports stronger anti-trust regulations to break up monopolies that he believes stifle competition and innovation.

Ted Cruz- Wants to reform social security but not alter benefits for people who already receive checks from the federal program that dates to the Great Depressions. He also wants to raise retirement age gradually, and is also a strong promoter of the 2017 tax cut package.

Education
Beto O'Rourke- Wants to increase federal aid to public schools in low income communities.

Ted Cruz- Wants to abolish the U.S. Department of Education, and is also an advocate for school vouchers.

Energy and the Environment
Beto O'Rourke- Favors a mix of removable energy and protecting the traditional fossil fuel energy sources. He also wants the United States to reverse Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords.

Ted Cruz- Supporter of the withdraw from the Paris Accords because he believes it would make oil and gas energy sources unaffordable for many Texans. He is also a strong supporter of hydraulic shale fracturing to tap more oil and gas sources, as well as more off-shore drilling.

Immigration
Beto O'Rourke- Fierce opponent of Trump's plan for a border wall. He also protests the administration's Family Separation Policy. He supports a path to citizenship for immigrant children who cross the border with parents or other family members.

Ted Cruz- Supporter of Trump's border wall, and he cast the loan vote in the senate against a Trump-backed initiative to offer a path to citizenship for some 1.8 million young immigrants brought into the country illegally as children.

Health Care
Beto O'Rourke- Believes that a single-payer Medicare-for-All program is the best way to ensure all Americans get the health care they need. He also says that Medicare "is one option" toward universal coverage.

Ted Cruz- Outspoken critic of the Affordable Care Act. He wants the law off the books and to be replaced with a law that would allow Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines.

Trump & Impeachment
Beto O'Rourke- Believes that Trump and his campaign in 2016 colluded with Russia to swing the election and the President's actions last month with the Russian leader in Helsinki are cause enough to bring impeachment charges.

Ted Cruz- A general supporter of the President on issues such as the tax cut and the appointment of conservative judges to the federal bench. ]]> 2018-10-24 12:07:19 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296384824 Politics About the Race Sources teskel20dew https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296386241 https://www.caller.com/story/news/local/texas/state-bureau/2018/09/10/beto-orourke-ted-cruz-texas-senate-race-health-care-education-and-impeachment/1221571002/

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/11/09/heres-where-texas-voters-turned-out-and-where-they/]]> 2018-10-24 12:11:12 UTC https://padlet.com/teskel20dew/flwx2h21upk4/wish/296386241