O’Rourke announces bid to defeat GOP governor
HOUSTON — Beto O’Rourke entered the race for Texas governor Monday, challenging an ultraconservative and well-financed two-term Republican incumbent in a long-shot bid to win an office that Democrats last occupied in 1995.
The arrival of O’Rourke immediately set the stage for a pitched political showdown in November 2022 over the future of Texas at a time when the state — with its expanding cities and diversifying population — has appeared increasingly up for grabs.
O’Rourke, the former El Paso congressman and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has been a darling of Texas Democrats and party activists since his run against Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. Although he lost the Senate race by nearly 3 percentage points, the fact that O’Rourke came close to unseating the incumbent Republican transformed O’Rourke into a national figure and convinced many Democrats that the state was on the cusp of turning blue.
His campaign hopes to rekindle that enthusiasm as it attempts to unseat Greg Abbott, the Republican governor seeking re-election to a third term. One recent poll found O’Rourke nearly tied with Abbott in a hypothetical matchup, and another showed him losing by 9 percentage points.
“Those in positions of public trust have stopped listening to, serving and paying attention to — and trusting — the people of Texas,” O’Rourke said in announcing his campaign. He contrasted the “extremist policies” of Texas Republicans that have limited abortion and expanded gun rights with positions that he said he would support, including expanding Medicaid and legalizing marijuana.
But Democrats have also seen their story of political change in Texas complicated by the results of the 2020 election.
Former President Donald Trump carried the state by nearly 6 points and gained ground for Republicans among Latino voters in the Democratic stronghold of the Rio Grande Valley. Republicans also held the state House of Representatives despite a concerted effort by Democrats to flip control. And Republicans have had an electoral lock on the governor’s mansion that has stretched for nearly three decades. The last Democrat to serve as governor was Ann Richards, who won election in November 1990 and was in office until January 1995.
The 2022 race will take place against a national backdrop that favors Republicans, including an economy still struggling to rebound from the pandemic and a Democratic president whose popularity has been sinking. And after his own failed presidential run, O’Rourke faces the challenge of demonstrating to Texas voters that he is focused on the state’s issues and not on the national spotlight.