HOUSTON — On Monday, State Senator Roland Gutierrez, the man hoping to win the Democratic primary for a chance to face U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, made his final pitch to voters.
He hopes to reach a runoff on Election Day, saying if Democrats want to beat Cruz, he's the one who can turn his seat blue.
"We can't have another six years of Ted Cruz and another four years of Trump," said Gutierrez.
A Democrat hasn't won a Senate race in Texas since 1988.
"O'Rourke got us so close, but he got us close because of a progressive message," Gutierrez said. "That's what fires people up."
To become a U.S. senator, Gutierrez will need to get past Democratic Congressman Colin Allred on Tuesday. Allred leads the latest University of Houston Hobby School poll.
"My opponent [Allred] likes to play this moderate game, holding hands with Republicans," said Gutierrez. "We've got to send candidates that will fight for the issues in the valleys that mean the most to us."
Gutierrez became more widely known after the mass shooting in Uvalde. He's a fierce, outspoken critic of weak gun laws that he said made that school massacre possible. It's a defining issue in his campaign.
"Loose Republican gun laws are killing our kids," said Gutierrez. "They [Republicans] are killing women on reproductive freedom. Our candidacy is about people's pain."
Gutierrez has tried to position himself as the most progressive Democrat in the primary, hoping his direct way of speaking to voters connects.
"People are tired of Washington politicians giving them a no answer," said Gutierrez. "We live in a country where people work very hard but they're not receiving the benefit of the bargain from the government. They're getting screwed quite frankly."
Political pundits said he'll need a big turnout on Tuesday to help get him to a runoff.
"People know who I am and they know I'm going to fight for them," said Gutierrez.
It's a crowded nine-candidate primary, but Gutierrez said he expects to make the runoff with Allred.
KHOU 11 News reached out to Senator Ted Cruz for an interview. We have not heard back.