Beto O’Rourke, an El Paso native and Ted Cruz’s Democratic challenger for the United States Senate, took both Texas and the nation by storm in 2018. O’Rourke spent months on the campaign trail, visited all 254 counties in Texas, inspired, and mobilized millions to be a part of a movement bigger than themselves that represents a new era in the great state of Texas.
As a very passionate former campaign volunteer for Beto O’Rourke, I believe that even though O’Rourke did not win this election, he more importantly won the hearts of millions, and this rising political star changed Texas from a solid red state to, at the very least, a deep purple state. His slim defeat on November 6 was heartbreaking for many, myself included, but it also represents a paradigm shift in the Lonestar State that many thought could never happen.
On election day, Ted Cruz, the Republican incumbent, beat Beto O’Rourke by a very narrow margin in the extremely high-profile Senate race. According to the Texas Tribune, with 4,244,204 votes (50.9%), Ted Cruz won the race against Beto O’Rourke’s 4,024,777 votes (48.3 percent). Over 8.3 million Texans voted in this election, which is the equivalent of 53 percent of eligible voters in the state, and makes it the “largest turnout for a midterm in recent history.” In fact, the number of people that voted during the early voting period in Texas surpassed the number of voters that cast ballots in the entire 2014 midterm election, also according to the Texas Tribune.
This enormous increase in voter turnout, as well as the mass mobilization of young people and people of color prove that Texas is no longer a state in which Republicans can expect to win easily. Sure, Cruz won his reelection bid, the Republican incumbent for Governor, Greg Abbott, beat his challenger, Lupe Valdez, and the Republican incumbent for Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick, beat his challenger as well. These races, however, were all much closer than what would typically be expected from campaigns in “deep Republican territory.” Democratic momentum has been gained, and the fight has only just begun.
The work that O’Rourke invested during his campaign undoubtedly increased support for the Democratic Party in Texas overall. As seen with a graphic from the New York Times, a majority of the congressional districts in Texas had an increase in support for the Democratic Party compared to the 2016 presidential election. So, even though O’Rourke did not win a seat in the Senate this time around, he narrowed support for the Republican Party in Texas for the future.
Another notable shift in Texas’ political landscape can be found in the fact that fourteen out of 35 candidates that are openly members of the LGBTQ+ community claimed victory in this midterm election. This is a 40 percent success rate and represents what the Texas Tribune calls a “rainbow wave” in the state. Members of this marginalized community are now feeling comfortable enough to run openly with this identity in both Texas and the entirety of the United States, and this phenomenon shows that equality and representation for all people is an issue about which the electorate deeply cares.
Most importantly, the 2018 midterm election in Texas shows that the American people are ready to usher in an era of politics free from partisan bickering. O’Rourke focused his campaign on the positive reforms he wished to bring to the table for the people of Texas, and he refrained from petty attack ads and slander, unlike Ted Cruz. His campaign has proved that relying on hope for what is possible rather than fear of the “other” is something that the nation is ready to embrace.
As for the future, O’Rourke hasn’t yet disclosed his next move. One could speculate that he might challenge Senator John Cornyn in 2020 when Cornyn is up for reelection. One could also say that he has his eyes on the Oval Office. With the viral videos, national support, and name recognition, he might just be what this country needs as a remedy to President Trump’s divisive partisan rhetoric. Despite the uncertainties of O’Rourke’s next steps, it is unquestionable that Beto O’Rourke and this new era of Texas politics have only just begun their remarkable journeys.
-Cassi Niedziela
