O'Rourke courts young voters, slams Kavanaugh

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (FOX 26) - Forty-eight days from the midterm election, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke took the stage at Prairie View A&M University with something new and energizing – fresh ISPOS/Reuters poll number that place him in the lead.

"If anything I think the polls are accurate in reflecting that we are within the range of contention. We can win this and it will be up to the people of Texas," said O'Rourke.

While a second poll (Quinnipiac) has O'Rourke trailing incumbent Ted Cruz by a full nine points, the Texas race remains a tightly contested "dog fight" – a fact hardly lost on the hundreds of students who poured into support the "progressive rock star" from El Paso who proudly supports the right of NFL players to protest.

"I feel like this is a very important election with the environment that Trump created. We need to participate, get engaged and make sure our issues and our agenda is met," said Joshua Muhammad, student at Prairie View A&M University.

While all eyes were on stage, it was off stage that O'Rourke made news, piling into the Kavanaugh sexual assault controversy and calling the Trump nominee "bad" for the Lone Star State.

"I do think that given the allegations made by Dr. Ford there needs to be an FBI investigation, but this is not a Supreme Court Justice that I think passes muster for the people of Texas," said O'Rourke.

O'Rourke and Cruz meet face to face Friday in Dallas for the first of three scheduled debates.