FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, sought to fend off an underdog challenge Tuesday from Democratic Rep. Colin Allred in one of the year's most expensive races, which is testing shifts in America's biggest red state and could factor into the fight for U.S. Senate control.

Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Colin Allred returned to the Dallas area to make their closing arguments in the final days of Texas’ red-hot U.S. Senate race. Cruz fired up supporters Friday at a Plano “party barn” where the walls were covered in old-timey memorabilia.

Republicans are clearly nervous about Texas, where voters are still bitter about Cruz's Cancun trip as during a deadly power outage