Cruz says O’Rourke benefits from liberal fury in Texas: ‘That anger is mobilizing’

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Sunday that his opponent in the U.S. Senate race, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), has been buoyed by anger among Texas liberals over President Trump.

“If you look at the dynamics, we’ve got numbers on our side. There are a lot more conservatives than there are liberals,” Cruz told “60 Minutes” in an interview broadcast Sunday.

“What the O’Rourke campaign has had on their side is intensity,” he continued. “The liberals who are in Texas are really, really mad. They hate President Trump. That anger is dangerous. I mean, that anger is mobilizing. It means they’re gonna show up no matter what. As I’ve said, they’ll crawl over broken glass to show up.”

{mosads}Cruz acknowledged that intensity “turns people out at the polls.”

O’Rourke has garnered national attention in his efforts to unseat Cruz in traditionally Republican Texas, thanks to his sizable fundraising hauls and his viral stump speeches. However, he has consistently trailed in polling in the race.

The Democrat told “60 Minutes” that his chances of victory hinge heavily on turnout.

“I think the more people that show up, the better we do,” O’Rourke said.

“The people who are fired up right now are fired up to do something great for this country,” he said, pointing to early voting numbers that show strong turnout.

Early voting numbers have surged nationwide, with totals already surpassing early voting for the 2014 midterm elections in at least 27 states.

In Texas, more than 4.5 million people cast in-person ballots in this year’s early voting period, and more than 360,000 people have cast mail-in ballots in 30 counties alone.