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Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke were literally miles apart from each other in Harris County, arguing over the state's largest swing county and the place that might decide who will represent Texas in the US Senate.
In Humble, Cruz took advantage of a speech in front of hundreds of supporters at the Tin Roof BBQ to warn that his re-election bid is tight and that he can not afford that Republicans are complacent about the expected record participation of Democrats. He said there are more conservatives in Texas than Democrats, but he fears that too many Republicans plan to stay home while the Democrats are energized and "are trying to burn the White House."
"We are fighting," said Cruz.
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Cruz used his speech to extol the Republican success in Washington since Donald Trump won the White House. He talked about how tax cuts stimulate the economy and Conservative judges appointed to the Supreme Court and in other courts. He said he would continue to push for the complete repeal of ObamaCare and he wanted to abolish the IRS.
Just 18 kilometers away, O'Rourke was holding a rally in front of thousands of people at the Houston Stampede. After reminding the crowd that some polls had shown him only one point behind Cruz, he implored the public to make more effort and to make sure that there was no regret the day after the elections of November 6th.
"Whatever you do, do more," said O'Rourke to a roar of supporters of the campaign.
Key themes in O'Rourke's speech included calls for access to health care for all, universal pre-kindergarten and criminal justice reforms.
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Being in Harris County, both candidates spent a lot of time talking about Hurricane Harvey and the recovery. Cruz said that despite the tragedy, the Texans united independently of the parties and helped each other. He praised his work in favor of tax cuts for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, which allowed people to use their retirement funds to pay for home repairs without additional penalty.
O'Rourke pointed to the storm's uneven recovery, warning that hundreds of families are still living in places like Kashmere Gardens, still with homes unrepaired.
When the race started more than a year ago, most thought that O 'Rourke was a bit more than a sniper against the former candidate in the presidency with a national fundraising base. But the MP for El Paso, relying heavily on social media and constantly traveling around the state, suddenly turned the race into one of the closest to the country. The polls showed Cruz with a narrow lead in the margin of error.
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It's no surprise that both are turning their attention to Harris County, which has gone from Republicans to Democrats in recent cycles.
"Harris County is a battleground," Cruz said of a county with more than 2.1 million registered voters.
In 2012, Cruz carried Harris County with just over 80,000 votes to easily beat Democrat Paul Sadler. But in 2016, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by more than 161,000 votes in Harris County, while losing Texas by just over 800,000 votes.
"2016 is clearly a sign of warning," Cruz said.
But Cruz also has an edge on the field because he grew up in Houston and his family still lives in the area. Despite the year 2016, he said he was convinced that there were still more conservative values that would help him find the country.
O'Rourke must surpass even Clinton in 2016 and end up in Houston for an even bigger result, said Brandon Rottinghaus, professor of political science at the University of Houston. If Cruz wins Harris County, as he did in 2012, O'Rourke would have trouble finding enough votes elsewhere to win.
"It's still the biggest purple county in the state," Rottinghaus said of the county's history of swinging Democrats and Republicans.
O'Rourke said he made an effort to try to travel to all parts of Harris County. He said there was no pollster on his staff, so he has no idea if this will result in a win, but that seems like the right approach.
"Wherever we go, people show up," O'Rourke said.
Cruz and O'Rourke knew they would be near Saturday. On Friday, they both arrived on the same Southwest Airlines flight from Washington.
"We had a very nice exchange," O'Rourke said. "We shook hands. So, each of us knew that the other was going to be in the Houston area.
O'Rourke jokingly said he was thinking of trying to discuss the intercom on the plane, but he thought better.
Early voting for the race starts only 44 days from Sunday.
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