It's been a quarter century since a Democrat won statewide office in Texas. No Democrat governors, no attorneys general, no U.S. senators. But in 2018 — with control of the senate hanging in the balance — Beto O'Rourke's campaign against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz has become the most dramatic, most watched race in America. This week, we ride through Trump country with Beto and get inside his campaign to turn America's reddest state blue.

Underdog: Beto vs. Cruz

1: On the Road Again

Go inside the most expensive, most talked-about political race of 2018: the U.S. Senate contest between Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Senator Ted Cruz. For a generation, Texas has been America’s ultimate red state. No Democrat has won statewide office here since 1994. Will this be the race where everything changes? Or will Beto-mania turn out to be just another fantasy? For the next month, Texas Monthly, chronicler of life in contemporary Texas since 1974, and Pineapple Street Media, creator of Missing Richard Simmons, will be traveling around the state of Texas, reporting in real time. We’ll go behind the scenes with the O’Rourke campaign, take the pulse of operatives and analysts and pollsters, and talk with the Texas voters of all political stripes who will ultimately decide which candidate and whose vision for the state will prevail.

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Underdog: Beto vs. Cruz