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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018
volume
119,
issue
61
STATE
cruz holds on After intense campaign, O’Rourke loses Senate race. By Chad Lyle @LyleChad
ncumbent Republican Ted Cruz held onto his seat in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday night, holding off an energetic and well-funded challenge from Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke. In his victory speech, Cruz described the outcome of the campaign as an indicator of Texas values. “This election wasn’t about me, and it wasn’t about Beto O’Rourke,” Cruz said. “This election was a battle of ideas. It was a contest for who we are and what we believe. It was a contest, and the people of Texas decided this race.” The Associated Press called the race for Cruz at 9:35 p.m. Central Time after early voting returns initially indicated a tight race. At press time, The New York Times projected that Cruz would win by 3 percentage points. During the campaign, Cruz doubled down on his support for former rival and current U.S. President Donald Trump to boost turnout among conservatives. Trump campaigned with Cruz in Houston on the first day of early voting and said the senator was a crucial part of passing his policy agenda. “Nobody has helped me more with your tax cuts, with your regulations, all of the things we’ve been doing with your military
T O P : Republican incumbent Ted Cruz narrowly held his U.S. Senate seat against his challenger, Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke, who shattered Senate race fundraising records. copyright bob aemmrich for the texas tribune, and reproduced with permission R I G H T : Attendees of the Democratic watch party at the Driskill Hotel on Tuesday night. react as Ted Cruz, with a growing lead in the Texas Senate race, becomes the projected winner at the. ashley ephraim | the daily texan staff
and your vets, than Senator Ted Cruz,” Trump said during the Houston rally. O’Rourke’s challenge to Cruz made for one of the most competitive Senate races in recent Texas history, with the former shattering fundraising records and frequently generating national headlines.
O’Rourke raised about $70 million without accepting contributions from political action committees, while Cruz raised $33.4 million with the help of PAC money. In spite of doubling the senator’s fundraising totals, O’Rourke was unable to oust the firebrand incum-
SENATE
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NEWS
OPINION
LIFE&ARTS
SPORTS
Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives. PA G E 2
After Austin water crisis, students should dontate extra water bottles. PA G E 4
Cross country team members use ASL to communicate. PA G E 5
Andrew Jones returns from his battle with cancer for Texas’ win in season opener. PA G E 6
CITY
NATION
Tovo reelected to third term on City Council, avoids runoff
Democrats dominate US House of Representatives, gain needed 23 seats
By Sami Sparber & Meara Isenberg @samisparber @mearaann
Incumbent council member Kathie Tovo defeated three challengers in Tuesday’s election to once again represent District 9 on the Austin City Council. “It’s really been an extraordinary honor to serve the people of Austin in this capacity, and I look forward to continuing to do so over the next four years,” Tovo said at her election night event. “This is a very exciting time for the City of Austin, and it’s also a challenging one.” With 53 percent of the vote, Tovo came out on top. Challenger Danielle Skidmore, a transportation engineer, trailed 21 percentage points behind. Both Tovo and Skidmore finished significantly ahead of their opponents, who received less than 20 percent of the vote between them. In her third term, Tovo said she will focus on ending homelessness and promoting affordable housing in the district, which encompasses downtown, West Campus and parts of
South Austin. “We still have some great challenges ahead of us, and one I care about and work in partnership with many of you
It’s really been an extraordinary honor to serve the people of Austin in this capacity, and I look forward to continuing to do so over the next four years.” K AT H I E T O V O
CITY COUNCILWOMAN
on is ending homeless in this community for every individual who’s currently sleeping on the streets or in unstable and unsafe housing,” Tovo said.
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“I’m hopeful that in these years ahead, we can forge a path that works well for everybody and preserves what we love about this city … but also embraces the need for change in ways that are appropriate.” Skidmore, a transgender woman, would have been the first transgender person elected to public office in Texas. In her concession speech, she said she will continue fighting for the LGBTQ community. “Change is hard,” Skidmore said. “It doesn’t come easy. It doesn’t come quickly, but we keep fighting for what we know and what we believe in. Austin is my home, and we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to keep fighting. We’re going to keep fighting for representation … we are going to keep fighting for equality for the LGBTQIA community.” At Tovo’s event, social worker Kurt Cadena-Mitchell said he appreciates Tovo’s work on behalf of the city’s residents. “Kathie Tovo is a fighter for workers and their families,” Cadena-Mitchell said. “I’ve always been able to depend on Kathie to fight for social and economic
COUNCIL
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By Sara Schleede @saraschleede
While Republicans held onto the U.S. Senate, the Democratic Party gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives last night after eight years of Republican control. “A Democratic congress will work for solutions that bring us together, because we have all had enough of division,” said Nancy Pelosi, minority House leader, in an address to the public. The party needed to gain 23 seats to flip control of the house. At press time, they had gained 25 seats, according to The New York Times. At press time, Democrats held 10 of 36 seats in Texas districts and flipped two, Districts 7 and 32. Another district, 23, was still undecided but Republican incumbent Will Hurd was leading. The Republican Party held seats in Congressional Districts 10, 21 and 25 after neck-and-neck races. “Texas is still a Republican state, and there are just more Republicans than there are Democrats,” said Gary Teal, executive director of the Travis County Republican Party.
Chip Roy won U.S. House District 21 in a tight race against Democrat Joseph Kopser. At press time, Roy held 51 percent of the votes, followed by Kopser with 47
What’s broken is the extent to which the representatives that we send to Washington are not actually working for us. They’re not working towards the ends that the people want.” C H I P R OY
US CONGRESSMAN
percent. Since 1986, District 21 has been represented by Republican Lamar Smith, who is retiring at the end of this term.
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Roy said he is committed to using his position to fixing what he believes is broken in Washington. “I’ve worked in the bowels of ‘the swamp’ if you will,” Roy previously told The Daily Texan. “What’s broken is the extent to which the representatives that we send to Washington are not actually working for us. They’re not working towards the ends that the people want.’” Republican incumbent Roger Williams will represent U.S. House District 25 for a fourth term, after a win against Democrat Julie Oliver. At press time, Williams had 54 percent of the vote, which was 10 percentage points higher than Oliver. “I know what it’s like for a party to not be able to win races. It’s tempting to make jokes about meeting in a phone booth,” Teal said. “The truth is, the only place in town we can meet is Memorial Stadium because there were 85,000 people who voted in the Republican primary. That’s a lot of people.”
CONGRESS
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