Right leader for our time

Regarding “Beto, come home” (Editorial, Aug. 11): Recently, the Chronicle’s editorial board lauded presidential candidate and former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke for the leadership he demonstrated in the wake of the mass shooting in El Paso. They then called on him to run for Senate. As Texas public officials from across the state, we agree that Texas needs Beto. But we need him in the White House, not the Senate.

Texas has many fine candidates seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for Senate. But we have a shot at a presidential candidate whom we can expect to invest in our state and win it — that’s Beto. The top of the ticket carries the state in presidential election years. Without the investment, infrastructure and frankly, starpower, that Beto brings to the top of the ticket, it’ll be a much more difficult fight for any of our Senate candidates.

As a presidential candidate, Beto is likely to do well in Texas not only because of his ties to the state but because of his crossover appeal to independents and Republicans. A recent poll by the University of Texas found that Beto is the only Democrat beating President Donald Trump by double digits, in large part because of his popularity with independents.

Beto’s popularity with swing voters makes him not just the ideal presidential candidate for Texas, but for the critical battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida. With Beto’s energy at the top of the ticket in Texas in 2018, we flipped two congressional seats, two state Senate seats, 12 state House seats and dozens of local and judicial seats across Texas. Imagine what he would do at the top of the Democratic ticket across the country.

The fact that Beto remains popular across party lines, while never shrinking from divisive issues, is exactly what makes him the ideal leader for our country in this moment. Beto does the hard work of bringing people together.

So let us be clear: Texans want Beto O’Rourke in the White House. With him at the top of the ticket, we can finally turn Texas blue and, in doing so, guarantee that Trump never darkens our doorstep again.

State Reps. Rhetta Bowers, Jessica Farrar, Art Fierro, Gina Hinojosa, Joe Moody, Lina Ortega, Ana-Maria Ramos, Gene Wu and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins