A House Democrat who first took office in 2013 reportedly plans to challenge Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in his reelection bid next year.
Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, will announce his intention to run for the Senate on Friday in El Paso, Texas, his hometown, the Houston Chronicle reported.
O'Rourke told the Chronicle earlier in March he is "very moved" to challenge Cruz for his Senate seat, which the latter has held since 2013.
The 44-year-old O'Rourke was reelected to the House for the second time last fall. Before he began working in Washington, he served as a member of the El Paso City Council from 2005-2011.
"I think that national profile highlights the fact that [Cruz has] been running for president for four years, while he should have been serving the people in Texas," O'Rourke told CNN on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. "I'm going to make an announcement Friday in El Paso about my decision, and I owe it to the people there that I represent and serve to tell them in person."
The differences between O'Rourke and Cruz are clear: aside from their opposite political parties, O'Rourke was in a handful of rock bands in his younger days and attended Colombia University. Cruz is a lawyer who went to Princeton and Harvard.
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