Beto O'Rourke shifts tone, releases Ted Cruz attack ads

The much talked about Senate race in Texas is getting a bit more hostile.

In the wake of Tuesday night's fiery debate between Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Beto O'Rourke, O’Rourke finally rolled out a set of attack ads on Wednesday.

Cruz has been on the attack from very early on in the first debate and in some of his ads going after O'Rourke's voting record.

O’Rourke released a trio of new ads now blitzing the Texas airwaves.

UT Dallas Political Science Professor Robert Lowry notes that while the new ads have edge, they still aren't too edgy.

“The ads are pretty aggressive on policy, but they're not personal attacks,” Lowry said. “So I think that was probably a conscious decision.”

The noticeably sharper ads rolled out right in the wake of a noticeably more aggressive O'Rourke in his second and final debate with Cruz on Tuesday. O'Rourke did get personal there as polls suggest his momentum has stalled with a seven to nine-point gap behind Cruz.

“I mean he's gotta do something to change the landscape a bit,” Lowry said. “Given the polls, O'Rourke's either got to convince people to change their minds or he's got to get people who aren't currently planning on going out to vote to vote. He may have done something on the second.”

While the negative tone is new to O'Rourke, Cruz has remained aggressive on the debate stage and on the air for weeks.

Lowry expects O'Rourke's somewhat more aggressive ads will probably be as negative as he gets.

Both O'Rourke and Cruz will have rallies in North Texas.

President Donald Trump campaigns for Cruz on Monday, which is also the first day of early voting.