Texas Tribune Brief

The race between Cruz and O'Rourke emerged as one of the hottest in the country, with Democrats hopeful that O'Rourke could break the Texas GOP's iron grip on statewide offices.

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From the intense battle between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke to hard-fought, well-funded races lower on the ballot, what happens on Election Day could reset — or reaffirm — the trajectory of Texas politics.

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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his Democratic rival, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke of El Paso, made their closing arguments Saturday as they embarked on their last weekend of campaigning in the hotly contested race.

Turn to www.texastribune.org as your source for election information before and after the polls close and results roll in. Find out where the candidates stand on issues important to you and do your homework by re-watching our Split Decision virtual debate series. Find all six videos now at trib.it/splitdecision.

President Donald Trump on Thursday doubled down on his intent to militarize and fortify the border against a caravan of Central American asylum-seekers slowly making their way toward the United States, saying his administration recently did away with "catch and release" for undocumented immigrants and plans to erect tents to hold future border crossers — including their children — until their immigration cases are resolved.

Trump offered no details on how his administration would be able to indefinitely hold families for long periods and still comply with a court settlement known as the Flores agreement that limits how long undocumented minors can be detained by the government. He also didn't provide details on the number or location of the tents but said they're necessary to stop a coming "invasion" of migrants.

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Months before he was arrested on allegations of mailing bombs to several prominent Democrats, Cesar Sayoc sent threatening messages over Facebook to U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, a spokesman for O'Rourke's U.S. Senate campaign confirmed Wednesday.

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President Donald Trump said in an interview with Axios that he plans to sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of noncitizens. Legal scholars question whether that's constitutional. Here's what Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke have said.

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Officials say the deployment will include three helicopter units, mobile command and medical units, military police and more.

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As of Friday, more Texans had voted early in the 30 counties where most registered voters live than they had for the entire two-week early vote period during the last midterm election in 2014. Several large counties are on track to surpass early voting turnout during the 2012 presidential election.

Early voting continues this week, through Friday, Nov. 2.

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Amid allegations that Hays County has suppressed the college student vote, a civil rights group is threatening to sue.

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Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz leads U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, by 5 percentage points among likely voters in a new Ipsos online poll released Wednesday in conjunction with Reuters and the University of Virginia. A September Ipsos poll showed O’Rourke ahead of Cruz by 2 percentage points among likely voters.

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