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Everything is bigger in Texas – including the stakes of this year's Senate race, in which Republican Senator Ted Cruz faces a battle of re-election suddenly imminent of one of the most important political phenomena, the Republic democratic Beto O'Rourke.
"Our novices are not usually that exciting," said Mark Jones, professor of political science at Rice University in Houston.
Democrats generally lag behind Texas double-digit Republicans – but the average Real Clear Politics polls is lowering El Paso's MPP by just 7 points, or 51 to 44 percent.
Jones explained the dynamics of the race in terms of football: "There are about two minutes left. Ted Cruz has the ball and is close to a touchdown, which means that if Cruz manages to keep things in the state, he will win, "Jones said.
The proximity of the race drew massive media attention to O'Rourke, a graduate of Columbia University who was once part of a small punk rock band.
This attention helped the Democrat raise $ 70.2 million for just $ 40.5 million for Cruz.
The contest has become the most expensive Senate race in history.
O 'Rourke has become a real threat in this state – where no Democrat has occupied office since 1994 – and even forced the former enemy of President Cruz, President Trump, to travel to Houston for a rally last week. there is to save his seat.
Although Cruz and O'Rourke are barely a year apart – respectively 47 and 46 – the former Rocker Congressman has given a younger image that has attracted young voters and celebrities.
He participated in rallies with Willie Nelson, a native of Texas, and received donations from Kyra Sedgwick and John Goodman.
All this is surely that Cruz – who beat his 2012 Democratic opponent by 16 points – is sweaty. But observers believe that O'Rourke will still need a lot of help to impose himself.
"Beto must do something monumental to effectively break the status quo," Jones said.
About three-quarters of Texas ballots are cast during an advance vote, which was "right in the sky," said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
"But I do not think we can assume that early voting necessarily means a big increase in the Democratic vote," Henson warned.
About 9% of early voters do not have a previous voting record, Henson noted. "So it's interesting, but not decisive in O'Rourke's favor."
If O'Rourke loses Tuesday, he has another chance in two years when Senator John Cornyn, another Texas Republican, must be re-elected.
"It's not the end of the Republican regime, but the beginning of the end," predicted Henson.
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