As early voting winds down in Texas and voters have less than 48 before polls open, the final signs in the nation's most expensive U.S. Senate race this cycle is that incumbent Ted Cruz will be the likely winner.
But the race has been far from easy, and to Cruz’s credit, he and his campaign have left nothing to chance.
The days of Texas being a safe red state are over.
Like once-red states Georgia and Arizona, demographics and an influx of blue-state liberals have been moving the Lone Star left.
An Emerson Poll released Oct. 23 showed Cruz leading Democrat Rep. Curtis Allred by 48% to 47%.
The results from the last New York Times/Siena College are better: Cruz led Allred by 50% to 46%.
Most Texas political pundits who spoke to Newsmax agree that Cruz will hold on to his seat — a repeat of his successful 2018 win over Democrat Rep. Beto O'Rourke. Cruz beat O'Rourke with 2.6 percentage points of the vote.
"It appears the Cruz/Allred battle is as close as Cruz's last election against Beto," said Wayne Thorburn, author "Red State," about the rise of the Texas GOP.
"Given the Republican strength in Texas, I expect Cruz to squeeze out another six-year term," he said.
Thorburn added that while "Allred has run an impressive campaign, Cruz has emphasized transgender issues and tried to say Allred wants boys in girls sports."
Dan Eberhart, a Cruz donor, told Newsmax, "The race is closer than it should be, but Cruz will prevail and a win is a win."
Eberhart predicts Allred will run for Texas governor in 2026.
The national media has made much of Allred's fundraising.
According to NBC News, since Labor Day, Democrats have spent $57.2 million on ads in the race, with $44 million raised by the Allred campaign.
Republicans have spent $47.5 million on ads, NBC News reported, with $17.2 million from Cruz's campaign. A super PAC known as Truth and Courage PAC has spent $18.5 million on ads supporting Cruz.
Ted Cruz is the Senate's most passionate conservative and a target of the national media and the Democratic left.
His likely win Tuesday will prove again that big media spin and Hollywood money can't buy you a Senate seat, at least in Texas.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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