EL PASO -- There was no love for hometown congressman Beto O'Rourke in the gymnasium of Franklin High School on Saturday night.

A sea of 2,200 people carrying "Ted Cruz: Tough as Texas" signs, wearing red "Make America Great Again" hats and waving American flags, came out to boisterously support Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. The incumbent is in a highly watched battle for re-election with O'Rourke, who Democrats see as their best shot to win statewide elected office in 24 years.

An energetic Cruz, with comfortable leads in recent polls despite O’Rourke’s huge fundraising lead, greeted the standing-room-only crowd, saying: "The media told me there weren't any conservatives in El Paso." The crowd booed loudly.

Cruz then went down a checklist of issues that are central to his conservative base. On taxes, he said, he'd led the way to pass "the biggest tax cut in a generation." And he'd worked to cut down on regulation of business, which he said resulted in more jobs.

Unemployment, he told the crowd, was at its lowest rate in 49 years. Among African-Americans and Hispanics, he said, it was at historic lows.

"Sounds like we've got an agenda that's working," he said.

He even brought out his own "Beto" - Gilberto Gonzalez - a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency for 24 years who now runs the Texas Narcotics Officers Association and supports the Cruz campaign.

Cruz also tied the success of Trump's policy positions to his own. The United States' embassy in Israel had finally moved to Jerusalem, he said, and the country had pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord and the Iran nuclear deal.

"How about the judges?" he asked. "We have Justice Neil Gorsuch and we have Justice Brett Kavanaugh."

The crowd exploded into applause and began chanting "USA! USA!"

Cruz said Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings were "an absolute circus" and called the "behavior of Congressional Democrats truly appalling."

Cruz's recital of his résumé played well with voters like Rosie Romo, who said she supported his views on border security, defending Israel and opposing abortion. She'd voted for him in the past and would vote for him "forever," she said.

It also appealed to Edwin Tresco, who said he will vote for the first time in November in an effort to stop liberal politicians from coming to power in Texas.

Cruz capitalized on this comparison, telling the crowd Texans will have a stark comparison come Election Day. He said O'Rourke wants higher taxes and more regulation and called his views on immigration "radical and reckless."

"Here's the good news," Cruz told the crowd, nearing the crescendo of his speech. "This is Texas and there are a whole lot more conservatives than liberals in the state of Texas."

He assured the crowd that he would win the election in November and invoked the Texians in the Battle of Gonzales, closing his speech with an implied message to Democrats: "Come and take it!"

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