U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said on the Oct. 30 episode of his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz, that Republicans could lose every statewide race in Texas on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Cruz, a Republican, said that if the election were held that day, Republicans would lose by a wide margin, calling it a possible "bloodbath." He urged supporters to turn out. No Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas since 1994.
According to the Texas Secretary of State, 6,857,566 Texans had voted early through Thursday, Oct. 29, including 6,602,045 in person and 255,521 by mail. That is about 36% of the state's 19,041,684 registered voters. Totals for Friday, the last day of early voting, had not yet been posted.
A CNN poll by SSRS, conducted Oct. 20 to 27 among 923 likely Texas voters, showed Democrat James Talarico at 49% and Republican Ken Paxton at 43% in the U.S. Senate race. In the governor's race, Republican Greg Abbott had 48% and Democrat Gina Hinojosa had 46%. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points, which puts the governor's race within the margin. On Election Day, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and voters need one of seven accepted forms of photo ID. Polling places are posted at VoteTexas.gov.