DiscoverUnderdog: Beto vs. Cruz
Underdog: Beto vs. Cruz
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Underdog: Beto vs. Cruz

Author: Texas Monthly and Pineapple Street Media

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Go inside the most expensive, most talked-about political race of 2018: the U.S. Senate contest between Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Senator Ted Cruz. For a generation, Texas has been America’s ultimate red state. No Democrat has won statewide office here since 1994. Will this be the race where everything changes? Or will Beto-mania turn out to be just another fantasy? For the next month, Texas Monthly, chronicler of life in contemporary Texas since 1974, and Pineapple Street Media, creator of Missing Richard Simmons, will be traveling around the state of Texas, reporting in real time. We’ll go behind the scenes with the O’Rourke campaign, take the pulse of operatives and analysts and pollsters, and talk with the Texas voters of all political stripes who will ultimately decide which candidate and whose vision for the state will prevail.

6 Episodes
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1: On the Road Again

1: On the Road Again

2018-10-1227:26

It's been a quarter century since a Democrat won statewide office in Texas. No Democrat governors, no attorneys general, no U.S. senators. But in 2018 — with control of the senate hanging in the balance — Beto O'Rourke's campaign against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz has become the most dramatic, most watched race in America. This week, we ride through Trump country with Beto and get inside his campaign to turn America's reddest state blue.
2: Red State

2: Red State

2018-10-2429:58

It's been an eventful week for the Beto O'Rourke campaign. He just announced a $38-million fundraising haul, the biggest ever for a senate campaign in the US. But polls are showing Ted Cruz with an eight or nine point lead. This week, we head to a Cruz rally in Houston and look at how Texas went from a state full of Democrats to a stronghold for the GOP. 
3: The Sleeping Giant

3: The Sleeping Giant

2018-10-3032:40

For Beto O'Rourke to win, he needs to get hundreds of thousands of non-voters to show up. This week, we head to the Rio Grande Valley. It's a largely Latino border area of the state, with many potential Democratic voters. It also has historically low voter turnout. Can Beto change the Texas electorate? And what is his plan to bring in unlikely voters? 
4: The Final Push

4: The Final Push

2018-11-0229:01

With less than a week to go, Beto O'Rourke is behind in all the polls. But he's still getting huge crowds at rallies, and turnout for early voting is way up. We travel the state to figure out if there's something the pollsters are missing. With an appearance by everyone's favorite grandma from Waco, Mary Duty. 
With days to go, the volume of news has felt overwhelming. Donald Trump has tried to fire up his base with claims about the migrant caravan in Mexico, while Democrats have touted early voting numbers as the sign of a coming 'blue wave' at the polls. What does it all mean? We turn to Larry Sabato from the University of Virginia, and Democratic political strategist Tom Bonier for answers.  
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