(Photo: AFP/Imagebank)

Rep. Beto O’Rourke shouldn’t be within striking distance of Ted Cruz in their Texas senate race, but the three-term congressman from El Paso has done more than just put a scare into the Republican Party, he’s become a Democratic star who some say might be a longshot candidate for president.

He’s done it by raising $38 million over the last three months alone, a record for a US Senate race. He’s done it by visiting every county in Texas (all 254 of them), by broadcasting his adventures live on social media, and by taking progressive positions on issues that, most observers would reckon, Texas voters would find anathema.

To wit, in border state Texas, he supports anchoring the status of children brought into the country illegally and opposes building President Trump’s long-promised border wall. In a state where high school football is a second religion, he supports the right of professional football players to take a knee during the national anthem. In the home of the cowboy, he would like to restrict gun sales and approve the sale of marijuana.

So how has someone with clearly progressive positions managed to give Ted Cruz a scare? O’Rourke bet that he could appeal to young and immigrant voters to overcome the Republican Party’s natural advantage in a right-leaning state. So far, he’s had limited success. While some polls had him ahead by two to three percentage points, most polls show Cruz with a comfortable margin. The latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Cruz with a nine-point lead a few weeks from election day.

A loss in Texas for the Democrats could spell the end of their hopes to retake the Senate. Since the controversial confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D–ND) has sunk to a double-digit deficit in her reelection bid, and GOP congresswoman Marsha Blackburn has opened up a six-point lead in her Tennessee Senate race.

Cruz supporters claim that the O’Rourke campaign, for which he broadcasts himself live folding laundry and talking to his wife about their children’s homework, is all one big social media gimmick. They also mock O’Rourke’s claim that he won’t take money from political action committees. When he started his campaign, they say, he wasn’t popular enough to attract any money from large contributors.

Still, his fundraising acumen is impressive. Despite shunning big money, he’s raised a huge amount from small donors, which has in turn attracted the attention of Democratic Party officials looking for an appealing young candidate for the 2020 presidential contest. Indeed, one theory on Beto’s run is that it’s all about the next presidential race. He doesn’t think he can win Texas, but he has shown that he might have enough appeal to run for president.

On Israel, O’Rourke has a poor record. In 2014, when Congress approved $225 million to fund the Iron Dome system by a vote of 395 to 8, the congressman was one of the eight who voted against. In March 2015, he was one of 58 Democratic congressmen who boycotted Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech on the Iran nuclear deal before a joint session of Congress.

Despite Cruz’s big lead, Republicans are doing everything they can to avoid an embarrassing loss in Texas. In August, the Cruz campaign asked President Trump to campaign for him. “I will hold a big rally for Ted Cruz in October,” tweeted Trump, who once called Cruz “lyin’ Ted” on the campaign trail. “I’m choosing the biggest stadium I can find in Texas. And like you know, Ted has my full support. His opponent is a disaster for Texas, weak on guns, crime, borders, the army, and veterans.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 731)