Tom Green County Is Ground Zero for Ted Cruz & Beto O'Rourke

SAN ANGELO, TX -- With some polls showing Congressman Beto O’Rourke within the margin of error in the hotly contested race for Junior U.S. Senator from Texas against incumbent Republican Ted Cruz, Tom Green County has become a focal point in the campaign leading up to the November general election.

El Pasoan O’Rourke has campaigned in San Angelo several times.  Incumbent Senator Ted Cruz stopped in San Angelo earlier this month to visit with veterans about healthcare and other issues they face.  

On Thursday, Cruz makes a campaign stop at Miss Hattie’s Restaurant downtown.  As we reported earlier, the junior Senator from Texas said he faces a serious challenge from O’Rourke and discussed  immigration and the difference between his stance and his opponent’s during his earlier stop in San Angelo.  “He opposes the wall, he says we should tear down the fences and walls we have right now that we have too many.  He supports sanctuary cities and just a few weeks ago he said he is open to abolishing ICE. That is just a radical view.” said Cruz.

He also added, “Congressman O’Rourke is now the only Democratic senate candidate in the country to come out explicitly for impeaching president Trump.”

Tom Green County Republican Party Chairman Jeff Betty was pleased about the announcement that Cruz was coming back to San Angelo.

“As you all know I have been trying to get a visit from Senator Cruz for quite some time. Now that he is coming for a campaign visit it is incredibly important that we show up in numbers to welcome him and show this area that the Democrats are delusional in their hope that their candidate [Beto O’Rourke] will convince Texans to sign up for socialism,” he stated in an email.

Local Cruz supporters had to get free tickets to attend the Thursday event.

The Texas Tribune is reporting that yard signs are an issue in the campaign. Cruz said "Yes, there are a lot of signs for my opponent, Beto O’Rourke. They invested a ton of money and they put that money, part of it, into having signs everywhere."

The sign disparity is not necessarily indicative of an enthusiasm gap, but of differences in campaign spending priorities. But more broadly, Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe has an aversion to yard signs — he said he views them as a far-less-effective use of campaign money than door knocking, television and radio advertising, phone banking or direct mail. That's not a new strategy in Cruz world. Roe said the Cruz 2016 presidential campaign spent no money on yard signs.

"It would be an easier campaign to win if we just used yard signs, and whoever wins is who puts up the most yard signs," Roe told The Texas Tribune.

Even so, the Cruz campaign has distributed 10,000 signs so far, and ordered another 25,000 for these anxious supporters.

O’Rourke and his supporters believe they will out poll Cruz on election day in a county that hasn’t gone to a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in over 20 years.

Cruz meets with supporters at Miss Hattie’s Restaurant from 5 to 6:30 p.m