O'Rourke launches bid for Texas governor

[demmiblue]

Source: The Hill

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) announced Monday that he intends to run for governor of the Lone Star State, setting up a heavyweight challenge to Gov. Greg Abbott (R).

O’Rourke, who also ran for Senate in 2018 and president last year, made the announcement in a fundraising email to supporters, where he touted himself as a unity candidate and railed against “fringe policies and incompetence that we see in Texas today.”

“I am running for governor to serve ALL of the people of Texas,” he said. “I believe that the only way we are going to achieve great things for this state is by looking out for each other and moving forward together.”

DEVELOPING

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/581533-orourke-announces-run-for-texas-governor

[Lovie777]

1. I'll back Beto . . ...

Texas has one of the most one sided voting rights crapola around plus heavy gerrymandering all in favor of GQP. And a very corrupt republican party.

[peppertree]

21. Same here - but Abbott will just cheat him (again)

Those "Texas landslides" you know.

[George II]

2. That's not fair! Yesterday I got an email from him saying he would have a special announcement....

..."in a few days"!

Caught me off guard.

[TexasTowelie]

6. .

I realize that you were being sarcastic, but Beto didn't need to wait any longer.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Yeah

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

4. +1

[LetMyPeopleVote]

5. Go Beto

Link to tweet

[TexasTowelie]

7. Three days in South Texas should be a good way to shore up some votes in the Hispanic community.

When reviewing the data for the 2018 Senate election, I noticed that Democrats did not perform as strongly as in prior elections. While he will meet a number of contacts in the cities mentioned, it would also be nice for him to get into some of the mid-size communities in South Texas.

The visit to South Texas will provide Beto the opportunity to address two vital issues - trade and immigration. I believe that Beto can address the trade policy issues eloquently, but the speeches on immigration are what everyone will be analyzing.

[Bayard]

8. Most excellent news!

Does he stand a chance? We already know it won't be a free and fair election.

[childfreebychoice]

9. Sadly, voter suppression, will keep rethugs

in power, for far too many yrs than I care to remember. Long for days of Ann Richards, and Molly ivins

[lees1975]

10. There are enough Democrats in Texas to close this deal.

[Polybius]

11. Not a fan of Beto for Texas but I wish him well IF he wins the primary

My guess is that he will, so in that event I'd fully support him.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

15. Just curious... Why not? I do think this time will be different though.

Last time he ran he was very careful not to offend anyone. Strategy was to treat people all people respectfully and not really talked about the opponent but more about things they personally would like to see Texas do better. Then he made that comment about getting people's guns - that will be very challenging to overcome

He was surging in the polls until cruz unleashed all the nasty Facebook trash. Which spread like wild fire among the lesser informed.

[Jose Garcia]

16. Cruz is a lot less popular than Abbott

[Laura PourMeADrink]

19. Really? I haven't seen any polls. It might be a toss-up for me

but I think Abbott is far more dangerous. He talked to trump and then mysteriously lifted bans to protect people from covid in Texas like the next day. I think Abbott is directly responsible for loss of life.

[Polybius]

17. Because he's way too far to the left for Texas

Let's take the Cruz race. After he secured the nomination, he didn't move to the right at all. He made three big blunders during the Summer/Fall of 2018:

1: He strongly supported sports players who kneel. I do too, but I you don't say it when you're running in Texas in 2018. At the time, it wasn't popular there.

2: He came out against the Betsy Ross sneakers by Nike, who pulled them right before the Fourth Of July. He said they were offensive and glad that Nike pulled them. They weren't.

3: He publicly came out against Brett Kavanaugh, even before the sex allegations. What he should have said was "I'm not in the Senate right now so I don't have a case for or against him, as I haven't seen all the necessary documents."

I get it, he believes in his positions. Don't lie, but dodge the questions a bit. Texas is still pretty Red.

But it got way worse after the election. When he ran for President, he flat out said he was coming for your AR-15. Republicans will blast this clip all day long. Want to win in Texas? Nominate a Joe Manchin-type, or someone a little more liberal.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

18. Well the good news is that the people

Who did not support him are very low info people. And they probably never even knew about any of the things you mentioned

[Polybius]

20. Well they'll know about the "Hell yes, we're gonna take your AR-15, your AK-47..."

It'll be ran daily from the Abbott campaign. What a stupid thing to say on live TV.

[greenjar_01]

12. Oooof

[ShazzieB]

13. Ah, yes!

I knew this was going to happen!

Good luck, Beto!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. Go Beto!!! Yes. Good organization he's already called me for money today!

[madville]

22. If I had to predict it today I'd say

Beto 46% to Abbott 52%.

The wild card is what is Matthew McConaughey going to do. He likely would beat Beto in the primary, or take votes from him if he runs as an independent.