Texas has exceeded its entire 2016 vote, and Ted Cruz is convinced it's a 'real race'

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

last updated 30 October 2020

Record-breaking voter turnout just got the Texas treatment.

As of Friday morning, the surprisingly swingy southern state has cast more votes than it did in the entire 2016 election cycle; Hawaii did the same on Thursday. But despite both of Texas' Republican senators being convinced there's a tough competition in the traditionally red state, both President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden haven't really campaigned there, The New York Times reports.

Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) tight 2018 race against Democrat Beto O'Rourke was one of the first indications Texas could become a tossup in 2020. Cruz has tried to convince Trump that "we have a fight" in Texas, he tells the Times. "There's no doubt that it's a real race," Cruz added — not unlike the message O'Rourke and former Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro have relayed to Biden. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who's fighting Democrat M.J. Hegar for re-election, meanwhile told the Times he could be "outspent by more than 2-to-1" as Democrats pour last-minute cash into the race. FiveThirtyEight's poll tracker meanwhile gives Trump an advantage of about a point in Texas.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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