Rep. Beto O'Rourke, left, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz took part in a debate for the Texas U.S. Senate Tuesday in San Antonio, in which O'Rourke invoked President Donald Trump's nickname for Cruz: “Lyin’ Ted." | Tom Reel/San Antonio Express-News via AP, Pool Elections O'Rourke goes on the attack against Cruz Trailing in the polls, the Democratic congressman released new TV ads and cut a more aggressive contrast with Cruz in Tuesday's debate.

Beto O’Rourke is on the attack against Ted Cruz.

The Democrat aired his first handful of TV ads directly criticizing the Republican senator Wednesday, following a debate performance Tuesday night in which he repeatedly attacked Cruz, even invoking President Donald Trump’s 2016-vintage “Lyin’ Ted” nickname and accusing Cruz of being dishonest with voters.


The shift comes as O’Rourke works to put himself within striking distance of Cruz in the final weeks of the campaign. Five public polls this month have shown Cruz leading O'Rourke by mid-to-high single digits, including four surveys in which Cruz got at least 50 percent support.

O’Rourke has a massive financial advantage to air the new contrast against Cruz: The Democrat raised over $38 million in the third quarter and ended September with nearly $23 million in the bank for the final weeks of the campaign, more than double the $11.2 million in Cruz’s coffers, according to Federal Election Commission data.

O'Rourke's new ads are all direct-to-camera appeals from the Democrat, highlighting issue contrasts with Cruz in three areas: health care, education and immigration. They aren't typical attack ad fare replete with grainy footage of Cruz or narrator voice-overs — but each of them directly attacks Cruz's policies.

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“Ted Cruz has voted to take away health care from millions of American families. He’s tried repeatedly to roll back protections for pre-existing conditions,” O’Rourke said in one ad. “And he shut down the government because he thought too many people had too much health care.”

In the immigration ad, O’Rourke attacked Cruz as wanting to “deport every single Dreamer.” In the education ad, he attacked Cruz as the “deciding vote in putting [Education Secretary] Betsy DeVos in charge of our children’s public education.”

It’s a departure from O’Rourke’s previous broadcast TV ads, which have mostly been positive spots mashing up footage of his campaign rallies with voice-overs talking about his own vision for Texas, with no mention of Cruz. Earlier this month, O’Rourke filmed an ad — cut during a live Facebook speech to supporters — decrying negative ads against him. Cruz's most-heavily aired ads have been negative, according to data from Advertising Analytics, along with a handful of positive spots and contrast ads aiming to paint O'Rourke as out of step with Texas' traditional conservatism.

O'Rourke's new ad campaign follows an aggressive debate performance Tuesday night. He accused Cruz of refusing to “stand up to President Trump, someone who apologizes for Russia, defends that country.” And he said Cruz has a “very troubling” record on confirming judges he views as questionable.

After Cruz accused O’Rourke of supporting a $10 tax on oil, the Democrat responded with his most personal attack of the campaign.

"This is what you can expect over the course of this debate. Senator Cruz is not going to be honest with you,” O’Rourke said. “He's going to make up positions and votes that I've never held or have never taken. He's dishonest. It's why the president called him 'Lyin' Ted,' and it's why the nickname stuck, because it's true."

Cruz audibly laughed at the jab, appearing unfazed by the use of the “Lyin’ Ted” nickname from his hard-fought 2016 presidential primary against Trump. Cruz’s campaign has defended the critique by citing a 2016 vote on a nonbinding resolution opposing a proposed $10 tax on every barrel of oil, which O'Rourke voted against. Cruz’s campaign has put up billboard ads attacking O’Rourke on the issue.

“It's clear Congressman O'Rourke's pollsters have told him to come out on the attack,” Cruz said during the debate. “So if he wants to insult me and call me a liar, that's fine. But John Adams famously said that facts are stubborn things.”

Cruz later attacked O’Rourke as the only Democratic Senate candidate in the country who has spoken about impeaching Trump, which Cruz said would lead to “two years of a partisan circus shutting down the federal government in a witch hunt on the president.”

“Really interesting to hear you talk about a partisan circus after your last six years in the U.S. Senate,” O’Rourke responded.