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.

In keeping his seat, he dashed rising hopes among some Democrats that years of demographic changes and urbanization could start to flip the state.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL linebacker and civil rights lawyer from Dallas, repeatedly broke fundraising records in his campaign, raising more than $80 million by mid-October.