Sen. John Cornyn expected to beat challenger MJ Hegar, latest polls show

Regardless of the result in the Senate race, this will be a historic election when it comes to voter turnout. Both MJ Hegar and John Cornyn believe their voters are energized and will give them a win Tuesday night.

DALLAS - According to most polling, U.S. Senator John Cornyn is expected to hold on to his Senate seat after the election Tuesday, but he hasn't been taking the polling for granted.

His challenger, MJ Hegar, has been cashing in on robust campaign contributions and spending over the past few weeks.

Regardless of the result in the Senate race, this will be a historic election when it comes to voter turnout. Both Hegar and Cornyn believe their voters are energized and will give them a win Tuesday night.

On the eve of Election Day, the two candidates for U.S. Senate crisscrossed the state.

Cornyn, the incumbent, has been in the Senate for 18 years. The former Texas attorney general focused his bus tour around South Texas on Monday, making stops in Corpus Christi, Victoria and Laredo.

“We had a huge turnout in early voting,” Cornyn said. “But there are still two or three million people who vote historically in these elections and not yet voted.

The political newcomer hoping to take Cornyn's seat is military veteran MJ Hegar. She campaigned in San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and Arlington on Monday.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said. “And regardless of election results, the fact that so many people are engaged and taking part in our democracy, the more people taking part in our democracy, the healthier our democracy is.”

Hegar is hoping to continue the momentum from the very close race in 2018 between Beto O’Rourke and Senator Ted Cruz. This race isn’t as close.

Cornyn still enjoys a several point lead in recent polling, but Hegar’s been outraising him in the final stretch of the campaign.

“Your civil rights are on the ballot. Your voting rights are on the ballot,” Hegar said. “Your access to healthcare is on the ballot, and I think that Texans are waking up and realizing that.”

Senator Cornyn is leaning on his record in Washington. While in Laredo, he talked about the relationships and progress he’s made while in office for South Texas.

“Over the years, the work we’ve done together from trade to anti-human trafficking, dealing with the drug problem, just trying to make sure our border communities are vibrant, continue to grow and offer opportunities,” Cornyn said.

Early votes and mail in votes will already be counted and posted shorty after polls close.

Hegar camp says they don’t think it will take long before a winner is decided.