With or without Beto O'Rourke, Democrats eye Texas as key Senate battleground
Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke pulled himself from the presidential campaign trail this week to focus on grieving with his native El Paso, in the days after a mass shooting took the lives of at least 22 people. The move sparked speculation that the 2018 Senate candidate, who raised an astonishing $80 million in his upstart campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz, is mulling another rumble in Texas, this time for the seat held by GOP Sen. John Cornyn in an already crowded Democratic primary.
But amid a raw and emotional week, O’Rourke dismissed questions about a potential Senate bid, telling reporters in El Paso Wednesday, "No part of me right now is thinking about politics, is thinking about any campaign or election. All of me is with and thinking about this community. And so I'm going to be here to be with my hometown, and to do anything I can to be helpful."
Regardless of O’Rourke’s decision about another Senate run -- for which the candidate filing deadline is in December -- the Democratic contenders already seeking to oust Cornyn in 2020 are picking up right where O’Rourke left off in 2018, fueled by the party’s nearly quarter-century-held hopes of turning Texas blue. The state has not elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994, but O’Rourke received more votes than any Democrat has in the history of Texas.
"In 2018, Beto O’Rourke destabilized Texas politics in a positive way for the Democrats," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. "The environment around the Texas Senate race is going to be one of an increasingly competitive Democratic Party."
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/beto-orourke-democrats-eye-texas-key-senate-battleground/story?id=64885083
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