Just 11 miles apart, Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke take their battle into Houston area

Senator Ted Cruz speaks to people attending his rally at Tin Roof BBQ Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Humble, Texas. Senator Ted Cruz speaks to people attending his rally at Tin Roof BBQ Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Humble, Texas. Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Just 11 miles apart, Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke take their battle into Houston area 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke were literally miles from one another in Harris County on Saturday battling for the biggest swing county in the state and the place that could well decide who will represent Texas in the U.S. Senate.

In Humble, Cruz used a speech before hundreds of supporters at the Tin Roof BBQ to warn that his re-election bid is tight and he cannot afford for Republicans to be complacent in the face of record turnout expected from Democrats. He said there are more conservatives in Texas than Democrats, but he worries too many Republicans are planning to stay home while Democrats are energized and “are trying to burn down the White House.”

“We have a fight,” Cruz stressed.

Cruz used his speech to tout the success of Republicans in Washington since Donald Trump won the White House. He talked about how tax cuts are stimulating the economy and conservative judges being appointed to the Supreme Court and other courts. He said he’ll continue to push for the full repeal of Obamacare and wants to abolish the IRS.

Just 11 miles away, O’Rourke was holding a rally before thousands packed into Stampede Houston. After reminding the crowd that some polls have shown him just one point behind Cruz, he implored the audience to push harder and make sure there are no regrets the day after the Nov. 6 election.

“Whatever you’re doing, do more of it,” O’Rourke said to a roar of campaign supporters.

Among key topics in O’Rourke’s speech were calls for access to health care for all people, universal pre-kindergarten and criminal justice reforms.

Being in Harris County, both candidates spent considerable time talking about Hurricane Harvey and the recovery. Cruz said despite the tragedy, Texans united regardless of party and helped one another. He touted his work to pass tax cuts for Hurricane Harvey victims that allowed people to use their retirement funds to pay for home repairs without additional penalty.

O’Rourke stressed the uneven recovery from the storm, warning there are still hundreds of families in places like Kashmere Gardens still with unrepaired homes.

When the race started more than a year ago, most thought O’Rourke was little more than a longshot against the former presidential contender with a national fundraising base. But the El Paso congressman, relying heavily on social media and constantly traveling the state, has suddenly turned the race into one of the closest in the nation. Polls have shown Cruz with a narrow lead within the margin of error.

It’s no surprise both turned their attention to Harris County, which has seesawed from Republicans to Democrats in the last few cycles.

“Harris County is a battleground,” Cruz said of a county with more than 2.1 million registered voters.

In 2012, Cruz carried Harris County by just over 80,000 votes on his way to easily defeating Democrat Paul Sadler . But in 2016, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by over 161,000 votes in Harris County, while losing Texas by just over 800,000 votes.

“2016 is clearly a warning sign,” Cruz said.

But Cruz also has a home-field advantage, having grown up in Houston and with his family still living in the area. Despite 2016, he said he’s convinced there are still more conservative values here that will help him carry the county again.

O’Rourke has to out-perform even Clinton in 2016 and run up even bigger numbers in Houston to pull off an upset, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor. If Cruz wins Harris County, as he did in 2012, O’Rourke would be hard pressed to find enough votes elsewhere to win.

“It’s still the most purple big county in the state,” Rottinghaus said of the county’s history of swinging back and forth between Democrats and Republicans.

O’Rourke said he’s made a point to try to get to every part of Harris County. He said he has no pollster on his staff so he has no idea if it will result in a victory, but it feels like the right approach.

“Everywhere we go, people are showing up,” O’Rourke said.

Cruz and O’Rourke knew they’d be in close quarters Saturday. On Friday, they both arrived on the same Southwest Airlines flight from Washington.

“We had a very pleasant exchange,” O’Rourke said. “We shook hands. So each of us knew the other was going to be in the larger Houston area.”

O’Rourke joked that he thought about trying to have a debate over the intercom on the plane, but thought better of it.

Early voting for the race begins just 44 days from Sunday.

jeremy.wallace@chron.com