Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., left, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, appear together at a campaign stop in Wichita, Kan., Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Their event Thursday kicks off a four-day bus tour with stops in 11 communities in the eastern half of the state.

Wichita ? Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is urging tea party supporters in Kansas to vote for Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, warning that staying home would empower Democrats.

Cruz appeared with Roberts and Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn Thursday in Wichita, helping to kick off a four-day bus tour with stops in 11 eastern Kansas communities.

Cruz says he recognizes the tea party had a hard-fought primary in Kansas, but he’s stressing the primary is over.

Roberts told the more than 100 supporters that the road to a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate runs through Kansas.

The three-term Kansas incumbent faces a tough race against independent candidate Greg Orman.

Orman is running as a centrist, pledging to break partisan gridlock.