WATCH: Beto O’Rourke greeted like a rock star after Ted Cruz chickened out on CNN's Texas town hall

The Democratic Party nominee in the 2018 Texas U.S. Senate race received thunderous applause at CNN's town hall meeting on Thursday.

"We're here at the McAllen Performing Arts Center for one of the hottest Senate races in the country," CNN's Dana Bash introduced. "Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke is challenging Republican Sen. Ted Cruz."

"O'Rourke has captured the national spotlight with a record-shattering fund-raising and viral videos, and now he's trying to come from behind and turn Texas blue," Bash explained.

"We invited Sen. Cruz to take questions from the audience, but he declined our invitation," she noted.

"Please welcome Congressman Beto O'Rourke," Bash asked.

At that point, the crowd went wild.

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