Jessica Estepa

USA TODAY

Democrat Beto O'Rourke is set to announce a bid against Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, according to reports.

O'Rourke is scheduled to make the announcement on Friday in his hometown of El Paso, which has represented in Congress since 2013, the Houston Chronicle reported.

"I'm very moved to do it," he said in an interview this month, according to the Chronicle.

His spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.

O'Rourke would be the first Democrat to declare against Cruz, who has served as the Lone Star State's conservative senator since 2012. Cruz has made waves since entering office, including his presidential run in 2016 against President Trump.

It's been decades since the last time Texas voters sent a Democrat to the Senate. Lloyd Bentsen served as a senator from 1971 to 1993 before resigning to become Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. Bob Krueger was then appointed to Bentsen's seat, but he lost a bid for the seat to Kay Bailey Hutchison just months later.

"People have just come to take it as an article of faith that a Democrat can't win," O'Rourke said in an interview this month, Politico reported. "I don't think there's anything real magical about this."