The Fox News Decision Desk projected that incumbent Texas Sen. Ted Cruz would defeat his Democrat opponent Rep. Colin Allred Tuesday, winning a third term in the U.S. Senate.

Cruz, 53, fought back, seeking in the final weeks of the campaign to paint Allred as wanting to allow boys to play in girls sports. He also tied Allred, 43, to Vice President Kamala Harris, who was expected to lose the presidential vote in the state, calling the two Democrats “dos liberales,” or, “two liberals” in Spanish-language advertising.

Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's success was rooted in rural Texas from the Panhandle to the High Plains where he ran up the score.