Is Texas Turning Purple? Why the Houston Chronicle Thinks Beto Could Be Their Next Senator

The editorial board of the Houston Chronicle has a message for Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke. 

It's time to end your presidential campaign and come home.

In the column, the newspaper notes O'Rourke's campaign is falling behind.

"Drop out of the race for president and come back to Texas to run for senator," the board wrote. "The chances of winning the race you're in now are vanishingly small and Texas needs you." 

O'Rouke lost his last US Senate bid to Ted Cruz, but the editorial board says his run was inspiring and worked to show Texas isn't just a red state. 

If O'Rourke were to drop out and seek a Senate seat in the Lone Star State, he'd be up against Republican Sen. John Cornyn who's seeking his fourth term. 

The paper says it wouldn't be easy, writing: "You'd have to fight for it and do better than you did against Cruz. But a lot has changed since 2018 — you had a lot to do with that — and Trump is no longer rock-solid in Texas. Neither are the Republicans who support him." 

Meanwhile, Tom Bevan, president, and co-founder of Real Clear Politics thinks winning a Texas Senate seat would be an uphill struggle for O'Rourke. 

"I think they have a point about him not having a real chance at winning the Democratic nomination," Bevan told CBN News' Faith Nation Wednesday. " He seems to be sort of languishing and has fallen off recently."

"But as far as winning the Senate seat, John Cornyn is not Ted Cruz. It is a presidential year and I think what Beto O'Rourke did in 2018 though proved that he did raise an awesome amount of money and he did have huge turnout across the state," Bevan continued. "There are signs that Texas is swinging a little more purple and even blue, particularly in the suburbs. And we now have three or four House seats that Republicans are going to be hard-pressed to hold.  They are really going to have to fight for them."

"So I'm not sure though.  Again, with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket and John Cornyn, in particular, it will be a heavy lift for Beto," he concluded.