CYPRESS, Texas (KTRK) — One of the top races under the spotlight this Election Day is for the U.S. Senate.

Incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz hopes to defeat his Democratic challenger, Congressman Colin Allred, and is seeking a third six-year term.

This has been a historic race, with the two making their last-minute push to voters.

Cruz held his final event in Cypress Monday night, and Allred had events this past weekend in Dallas.

Allred, who would be Texas’ first Black senator, hopes to capitalize on the state’s demographic shift and has made reproductive rights a key part of his campaign.

“We’re going to protect Medicare and social security. We’re going to secure the border. We’re going to fix our broken immigration system. There’s so much we can do, Texas, but we gotta get this guy out of the way,” Allred said. “We don’t have to have a senator who thinks he knows better than our doctors while he’s going off to Cancun. They’ve lost their minds. You don’t mess with Texas women.”

Democrat Colin Allred holds rallies in Houston in final push to win voters ahead of Election Day

Cruz, on the other hand, has said his challenger is “out of touch” while talking about conservative values.

“We want more jobs. We want higher wages. We want better opportunities. And how do you get jobs? You get it through low taxes. You get it through lower and predictable regulations, and you get it through keeping the federal government off the back of small businesses,” Cruz said. “Every race should be decided based on records, and I’ve spent 12 years fighting every day for jobs, for freedom, and for security.”

Ted Cruz begins bus tour in hopes of gaining support for his reelection race against Colin Allred

This has also been one of the year’s most expensive races. Both candidates have raised more than $160 million combined.

Cruz will be in Houston Tuesday night to watch the results, while Allred will be in Dallas.

If Allred wins, it would be something a Democrat hasn’t done in three decades: winning a statewide office.

For news updates, follow Brandon Hamilton on Facebook, X and Instagram.

Tuesday is Election Day, and Texas has already seen robust, but not record-breaking, turnout during the early voting period.

Texas’ top elections official has told federal authorities that their plan to send monitors to voting sites on Tuesday in eight counties would violate state law.

“Texas law is clear: Justice Department monitors are not permitted inside a polling place where ballots are being cast or at a central counting station where ballots are being counted,” Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said in a letter to Jasmyn Richardson, deputy chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division for elections.

The letter was in response to the Justice Department’s announcement last week that it planned to have monitors in 86 jurisdictions across 27 states on Election Day to make sure federal voting rights laws are being followed. The Texas sites would have included polling sites in Harris, Dallas, Bexar and Hays counties.

Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Monday said his office plans to deploy a special elections unit in several counties to “to monitor day-of election activity” and address any election-related lawsuits that might be filed.

“The Election Day Rapid Response Legal Team will be equipped to enforce Texas election laws and take immediate action on any contingencies, including issues seen in previous cycles such as ballot shortages, extended polling location closures, and improper extension of voting hours,” Paxton’s office said in a news release. “Similarly, the OAG will prepare to take defensive action against activist groups who might attempt to influence the election through litigation.”

What Texas early voting patterns show

Even before the opening of the polls Tuesday, a little more than 9 million Texans had cast ballots either in person or by mail during the early voting period. That’s nearly half of the state’s total registered voters, but the pace lagged behind the 2020 presidential election.

The statewide early turnout, nonetheless, was robust.

“With the exception of 2020, more people have already voted than the total number of people who voted in any previous presidential election,” said Texas voting data expert Derek Ryan, who for the past several elections has provided in-depth analyses of early voting patterns.

More: An ultimate Austin-area voter guide for Election Day on Tuesday in Texas

Four years ago, 11.3 million Texans voted in the general election and about 9.7 million, or 66.7%, cast early ballots, according to Ryan’s data. In 2016, about 60% of the nearly 9 million total voters turned out early.

Ryan said that when the number of likely voters who did not cast early ballots is taken into consideration, an Election Day turnout of 3 million is possible, and that would put the Texas turnout at more than 12 million.

Travis County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado said at a news conference Monday that her office is expecting 100,000 to 200,000 people to cast ballots at the county’s 176 voting sites on Election Day.

Any voter who is in line by the 7 p.m. poll-closing time will be able to cast a ballot.

Acceptable forms of ID to bring to the polls

• Texas driver’s license
• Texas election ID certificate
• Texas personal ID card
• Texas handgun license
• U.S. citizenship certificate with photo
• U.S. military ID card with photo
• U.S. passport

What if you have no acceptable ID?

Anyone unable to present one of the forms of ID listed above may fill out a Reasonable Impediment Declaration at the polls and present an alternative form of ID. Alternative forms of ID include the following, whether they are originals or copies:

• A government document that shows the voter’s name and an address, including a voter registration certificate.
• A current utility bill.
• A bank statement.
• A government check.
• A paycheck.
• Either (a) a certified domestic (from a U.S. state or territory) birth certificate or (b) a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law that establishes the voter’s identity (which may include a foreign birth document).

Staff writer Ella McCarthy contributed to this report.

Election results

To get the latest updates on local, state and national elections, visit statesman.com.

After UCF upset No. 13 Texas A&M on the first day of the 2024-25 season, Knights fans enjoyed the year’s first court-storming, as they spilled onto the floor following the 64-61 win on Monday.

And the Big 12 used the victory to poke the SEC with a familiar phrase: “It Just Means More.”

👍 It Just Means More. pic.twitter.com/SKiA7xuhRA

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) November 5, 2024

In 2016, the SEC began to use that phrase across all sports to announce its supremacy.

This season, UCF was picked to finish 11th in the Big 12’s preseason poll, while Wade Taylor IV, an all-SEC first team selection last year, and Texas A&M were projected to finish fifth in that league entering the season.

“Unbelievable environment,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said on the broadcast after the win. “Who wouldn’t want to be here playing in front of this crowd? Our student section is amazing. I’m just really, really happy for our guys. Our fans come out and they support us. Just seeing the evolution of our program over the years, I’m just really excited to see where this program can go.”

Taylor’s struggles — he finished 4-for-15 with 13 points on Monday — contributed to a tough road loss for a team that reached the NCAA tournament last season and battled top-seed Houston until the final moments of overtime in the second round.

But Darius Johnson, a returning veteran for UCF who finished with 24 points and added the go-ahead bucket with 45 seconds to play in the game, helped his team overcome a late double-digit deficit. Texas A&M led by 11 with 7:03 to play.

While Dawkins lost contributors from last year’s team who’d combined to score more than 30 points per game, he was confident in this group as the season began.

Upsets have been familiar for Dawkins and Co.

Last season, UCF won 17 games and missed the NCAA tournament but the Knights also won the most games over ranked teams in school history. On Jan. 10, 2024, UCF fans stormed the court after a 65-60 victory over then-No. 3 Kansas. That team also beat Oklahoma and Texas Tech, both top-25 squads at the time.

Following the first game of the season on Monday, UCF clearly remains a threat to pull off more upsets.

“The one thing about our guys is that they compete,” Dawkins said after the game. “We beat a really good basketball team, an experienced team. I’m just really proud of our effort.”