Five high-profile Democrats descend on Texas as 2020 spotlight on state grows

[TexasTowelie]

by Patrick Svitek, Texas Tribune


FORT WORTH — As Beto O'Rourke began to take audience questions at a rally here Friday evening, he offered a preface about the state that made him a star in 2018 but may not be as sure of a thing in 2020.

“I gave you my thanks earlier for being here for us in 2017 and 2018, for turning Tarrant County blue," O'Rourke said, "but I'll tell you this from the outset of this campaign: I do not take any of that support for granted going forward. I fully expect to earn it. We've got 20 — count it — 20 other people running for the Democratic nomination, so I want to make sure that I have a chance to listen to you tonight."

The timing of the statement was fitting. A half hour away, one of O'Rourke's primary rivals, Pete Buttigieg, was preparing to take the stage at the Dallas County Democratic Party's 2019 Johnson Jordan Dinner. And the South Bend, Indiana, mayor — who has supplanted O'Rourke as the field's hottest candidate of the moment — brought a message tailored for the ascendant minority party in Texas.

"I'm particularly pleased to be among fellow red-state Democrats," Buttigieg said. "I'm someone who’s trying to remind everybody that there's more to Indiana than our vice president, and you know that there’s a lot more to the state of Texas than what you see in the political commentary that sometimes comes our way."

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/05/03/beto-orourke-pete-buttigieg-stacey-abrams-other-2020-democrats-Texas/

[riversedge]

1. Here are the 5............

Through Sunday, the state will see visits from Stacey Abrams, Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Kirsten Gillibrand and Beto O'Rourke. Their party, though still a minority in Texas, is becoming ascendant in a state once considered unshakably Republican.

[NYMinute]

2. Is Stacey Abrams running? nt