Just like the media hyped Wendy Davis in 2014, the media hype for Beto O’Rourke has largely been the driver of his popularity.

Don’t take our word for it. Evan Smith, the CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, tweeted the following out several weeks about O’Rourke:

The humping of @BetoORourke’s leg by every magazine in America is, well, something#txsen #tx2018

— Evan Smith (@evanasmith) August 30, 2018

People complained about what Smith said but it was not a reflection on Beto, but rather the fawning media coverage. “Oh, look! There’s Beto on a skateboard!” “Oh, look! Beto played in a punk band!” “Oh, look! Beto drives around to all the counties!”

But it was always going to come down to issues in Texas and now that the state is closer to the election, the polls have shifted. The latest Quinnipiac Poll has Sen. Ted Cruz up by a whopping nine points over the Rep. from El Paso:

Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz has a 54 – 45 percent likely voter lead over U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, his Democratic challenger, in the Texas Senate race, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released today.

This is the first survey of likely voters in this race by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll, and can not be compared to earlier surveys of registered voters. Among Texas likely voters who choose a candidate, 93 percent say their mind is made up. That includes 94 percent of Cruz backers and 92 percent of O’Rourke backers.

Women are divided as 50 percent back Cruz and 48 percent back O’Rourke. Men back Cruz 57 – 42 percent. White voters back Cruz 66 – 32 percent. O’Rourke leads 97 – 3 percent among black voters and 54 – 45 percent among Hispanic voters.

Republicans back Cruz 94 – 6 percent, as Democrats go to O’Rourke 94 – 4 percent. Independent voters are divided with 51 percent for O’Rourke and 47 percent for Cruz.

Texas likely voters approve 53 – 44 percent of the job Cruz is doing and give him a 52 – 43 percent favorability rating.

O’Rourke gets a divided 43 – 42 percent favorability rating.

That is not good news for O’Rourke at all. This is a poll of likely voters. And look at that split among women. It’s even. Beto doesn’t have a chance with those numbers and Cruz is pulling 45 percent of the Hispanic vote. Another bad sign for Beto.