Rep. Beto O’Rourke lost one of the most-watched Senate races in the nation Tuesday. The Texas Democrat was finally defeated by Republican incumbent Ted Cruz by a margin of 51 to 49 percent.
But in the process, O’Rourke—still considered a future star even after his loss—almost certainly helped Lone Star Democrats unseat at least one powerful Republican House Members: House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, who has represented 32nd District of Texas since 1996.
Sessions, who has won re-elections with little trouble, lost to Democrat Colin Allred, onetime NFL star and Obama Administration official.
Having last sent a Democrat to the Senate in 1988, party activists were excited by the charismatic O’Rourke. In raising the money and building the organization that posed a clear threat to Republican Cruz, O’Rourke—who was frequently likened to Robert Kennedy—energized volunteers who helped fellow Democrat Allred.
“Beto registered many new voters, got so many supporters out to vote, and increased the Democratic turnout in districts where Republican House Members might be vulnerable,” a Republican activist from the Houston area told us.
Days before the election, O’Rourke joined Allred and Rep. John Lewis, D.-GA, at a rally in the 32nd District.
“[O’Rourke] helped defeat Sessions—no question there,” Austin attorney Howard Hickman, a conservative activist since Ronald Reagan’s Texas primary win in 1976, told Newsmax.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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