Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned this week that Republicans could lose every statewide office in Texas, including the governor’s mansion and the U.S. Senate seat, and urged conservative voters to take the election seriously and vote.

“Texas is excruciatingly close,” Cruz said during his podcast. “Understand, we could lose Texas. Let me repeat that: We could lose Texas. And by the way, not just the Senate race,” he added. “We could lose every single statewide race in Texas. That’s how close these numbers are.”

Cruz’s warning comes amid a competitive Senate contest between Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is also facing a challenge from Democrat Gina Hinojosa, with polling averages showing a close contest in both races.

Early voting figures have added to Republican concerns. An analysis of turnout data by Republican researchers, reported by NBC DFW, found that voters with a history of participating in Democratic primaries had cast approximately 70,000 more ballots than voters with Republican primary voting histories.

Cruz acknowledged that polling can contain a left-leaning bias, but cautioned Republicans against dismissing the numbers altogether. “Now, some conservatives, they say, ‘I don’t trust the polls. The polls are all wrong,’” Cruz said. “Well, let me tell you that there is a bias in the polls. They do skew left, but I can tell you, having run a lot of campaigns, have examined a lot of numbers, these data are not fake.” “The Democrats are massively out-turning-out the Republicans,” he added.

The warning comes despite President Donald Trump carrying Texas by 14 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election. Cruz’s message focused on the possibility that Republican turnout could fall short in the current midterm contests, allowing Democrats to make significant gains across the state.

Cruz closed his remarks with an urgent appeal to Republican voters, warning that Democratic victories in Texas could have consequences for the balance of power in Washington. “I don’t want to wake up in a world where Texas is all blue, where we’ve lost every statewide race, where the Democrats have a massive majority in the Senate, a massive majority in the House,” Cruz said. “Once that happens, there’s no turning back. … I’m pleading with you: Show up and vote,” he added.