*By Carlo Versano*
Texas Democrats find themselves in an odd position two months before a major election: running a competitive statewide race.
Optimism that Rep. Beto O'Rourke could unseat Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in the Senate is palpable in Democratic circles, said Texas Monthly's politics editor Carlos Sanchez. The race is now a "toss up," according to [Real Clear Politics] (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/senate/tx/texas_senate_cruz_vs_orourke-6310.html).
O'Rourke, who was elected to the U.S. House in 2013, has been surfing a wave of positive national press and an unorthodox, social-media-savvy campaign that found him traveling to all 254 counties of the deep red state and streaming his journey online.
All summer he's been gaining on Cruz who, compared to the charismatic O'Rourke, suffers from a "likability issue," Sanchez said. After all, Cruz's Republican colleague Lindsey Graham once famously [said](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313969-graham-to-cruz-i-want-to-apologize-to-ted-for-saying-he-should): "If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you."
Sanchez said that kind of sentiment may work in O'Rourke's favor: "The base for Cruz seems to be crumbling a bit."
But there are still challenges. While O'Rourke has out-raised Cruz by a wide margin, mostly from small-dollar donors, Cruz is better organized and allied with the powerful Koch network of donors. Sanchez said that "formidable" campaign infrastructure could pose a threat to the Democrat.
And the issue of Donald Trump looms large.
The president accepted an invitation to campaign for Cruz after Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick [reportedly](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/09/ted-cruz-reelection-trump-813354) pleaded with him to throw his support behind Cruz, a man he incidentally referred to as "Lyin' Ted" on the campaign trail.
Though that may end up working against the incumbent, Sanchez said. O'Rourke, who is popular with young and minority Democrat voters, needs those blocs to turn out on Election Day. A fiery Donald Trump rally weeks before may compel them to do just that.
O'Rourke "is the national Democrat of Texas right now," Sanchez said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/republicans-go-into-crisis-mode-as-democrat-beto-orourke-closes-in-on-ted-cruz-in-texas-senate-race).
The Biden administration on Tuesday quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home COVID-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially launch.
Just 27% of voters aged 18-29 approve of the job Biden is doing as president, according to a survey from The Economist and YouGov late last year. Santiago Mayer, executive director of Voters of Tomorrow, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss why President Biden is losing support among young voters.
Jesse Lehrich, co-founder of Accountable Tech, joins Cheddar News to discuss it being one year since Trump was exiled from social media and the former President's new platform 'Truth Social.'
Cliff Albright, co-founder of the group Black Voters Matter, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss why he boycotted President Biden's voting rights speech this week, and the push from Senate Democrats to debate and vote on the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) has teamed up with fellow Democratic senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly to introduce the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, a bill to essentially end stock trading by sitting lawmakers. From the other side of the aisle, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced his own legislation to enact something similar. The dueling bills come at a time when it's popular to constrain members of Congress from owning and trading stocks. Karl Evers-Hillstrom, a business and lobbying reporter at The Hill, spoke to Cheddar about the significance of the bills, and what they could mean for lawmakers, their families, and staffers moving forward.
A second Starbucks location in the U.S. has officially voted to unionize. On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board announced workers at the Starbucks store located in the Buffalo, NY suburb of Cheektowaga voted 15-9 in favor of being represented by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The New York Times reports votes were tallied in December but remained inconclusive as the union challenged the ballots of several employees it said did not work at the store. A Starbucks spokesperson has said that it may appeal the labor board's decision, which comes as several other Starbucks stores across the country are also pushing to form a union. Danka Dragic, shift supervisor for the second Starbucks store in the country to unionize, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Earlier today, Minnesota Republican Representative, Tom Emmer, introduced a bill that would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency directly to American consumers. According to the Congressman from Minnesota, requiring Americans to open a fed account to access a digital currency, would "put the Fed on insidious path akin to China's digital authoritarianism." Rep. Tom Emmer joined Cheddar's None of The Above to discuss more.
Sixteen of the country's most prestigious universities have been hit with a lawsuit claiming those schools illegally conspired to eliminate competitive financial aid offers for students. Just some of the schools mentioned include Yale, Brown, Columbia, UPenn, and Cornell. Author of "Who Gets In and Why" and Professor of practice at Arizona State University, Jeff Selingo, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
