Ted Cruz remains Texas Senator after close fight with Beto O’Rourke

In an election outcome tighter than expected, the current senator of Texas and former Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Tuesday retained his position in the Senate after defeating the Democrat Beto O’Rourke , according to estimates released by various media.

US TV networks ABC and NBC, along with local daily Texas Tribune, announced Cruz as the winner with a final percentage of 51.1 percent as against O’Rourke’s 48.1 percent.

The projection is made with 65 percent of the votes counted.

At the beginning of the count, O’Rourke, a revelation for the Democrats in this legislative campaign, who raised more than $60 million for his campaign, was leading the count by several points although as counting progressed, the percentage faded into defeat.

Cruz, a Cuban-born lawyer who in 2016 lost the Republican primaries to Donald Trump, focused his campaign on defending his economic agenda, low taxes and accusing his rival of trying to convert Texas into California.