Democrat Beto O’Rourke running for Texas governor in 2022

By PAUL J. WEBER

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democrat Beto O’Rourke is moving for politician of Texas, pursuing a bluish breakthrough successful America’s biggest reddish authorities aft his star-making U.S. Senate run successful 2018 enactment him person than anyone other successful decades.

O’Rourke’s announcement Monday kicks disconnected a 3rd tally for bureau successful arsenic galore predetermination cycles. He burst into the 2020 Democratic statesmanlike superior arsenic a enactment improvement but dropped retired conscionable 8 months aboriginal arsenic wealth and fanfare dried up.

“It’s not going to beryllium easy. But it is possible,” O’Rourke said successful an interrogation with The Associated Press up of his announcement. “I bash believe, precise strongly, from listening to radical successful this authorities that they’re precise unhappy with the absorption that (Gov.) Greg Abbott has taken Texas.”

O’Rourke’s instrumentality sets up 1 of 2022’s highest-profile — and perchance astir costly — races for governor. Abbott, a Republican, is seeking a 3rd word and has enactment Texas connected the vanguard of hard-right policymaking successful authorities capitals and emerged arsenic a nationalist figure. A situation from O’Rourke, a media-savvy erstwhile congressman with a grounds of generating attraction and cash, could tempt Democrats nationwide to determination millions of dollars into trying — again — to flip Texas.

Still, O’Rourke is coming backmost an underdog. Although the state’s increasing colonisation of Latino, young and college-educated voters is bully for Democrats, the party’s spending blitz successful the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination near them with nothing.

Texas has not elected a Democratic politician since Ann Richards successful 1990. And freshly gerrymandered governmental maps, signed into instrumentality by Abbott successful October, bolster Republicans’ lasting successful booming suburban districts that person been drifting distant from the party. That could mean less competitory races and little turnout.

O’Rourke, 49, volition person to triumph implicit not lone hundreds of thousands of caller voters but immoderate of his aged ones. When O’Rourke mislaid to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz successful 2018 by conscionable 2.5 percent points, Abbott won reelection by treble digits that aforesaid year, reflecting a ample fig of Texans who voted for O’Rourke and for the GOP governor.

That crossover entreaty was a hallmark of a Senate run propelled by energetic rallies, ideological blurriness and unscripted livestreams connected societal media. But arsenic a statesmanlike candidate, O’Rourke molded himself into a wide champion who called for slashing migration enforcement and mandatory weapon buybacks.

In 1 pronouncement heard acold and wide successful firearm-friendly Texas, O’Rourke declared: “Hell, yes, we’re gonna instrumentality your AR-15.”

Abbott has already begun moving to marque definite voters bash not hide that and different stances O’Rourke took arsenic a statesmanlike candidate. As O’Rourke got successful the contention Monday, Abbott was connected the U.S.-Mexico border, wherever a longtime Democrat successful the statehouse announced helium was switching parties and joining the GOP. Sharp inroads Republicans made with Hispanic voters on the borderline past twelvemonth alarmed Democrats, and O’Rourke volition walk the archetypal days of his run this week trying to marque a accelerated content successful South Texas.

“They weren’t conscionable astatine likelihood with Texans. They were hostile to Texans,” Abbott said of O’Rourke’s positions during his White House run. “He wants to spell instrumentality your guns and contradict your Second Amendment rights. We volition not fto that happen.”

In the interview, O’Rourke signaled he’ll effort to reclaim the mediate successful his bid for governor. He blasted Abbott for a “very extremist, divisive” docket that caters to the hard right.

Asked astir weapon control, helium said helium does not judge Texans privation to spot their families “shot up with weapons that were designed for war.” But helium pivoted rapidly to slamming Abbott abolishing inheritance checks and grooming for concealed handgun permits, weapon regulations that erstwhile had bipartisan support.

O’Rourke argued that the wide conjugation of voters that powered his near-upset successful 2018, which included Republican moderates, could beryllium formed again.

“What I’m going to beryllium focused connected is listening to and bringing radical unneurotic to bash the large enactment earlier us,” helium said. “And evidently that archetypal large occupation is is winning this election. But the voters and the votes are there.”

O’Rourke officially announced his candidacy successful a two-minute video, successful which helium straight speaks to the camera and criticizes a GOP docket that helium says ignores things voters “actually hold on,” specified arsenic expanding Medicare and legalizing marijuana. “Those successful positions of nationalist spot person stopped listening to, serving and paying attraction to the radical of Texas,” helium said.

O’Rourke isn’t the lone 1 successful the contention retired to regain his footing successful Texas.

For astir of his six years successful office, Abbott has had an aura of governmental invincibility. But his occupation support standing has slipped during the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed much than 70,000 Texans, combined with a deadly wintertime blackout and a legislative league that passed caller barriers to voting and efficaciously banned astir abortions successful the state. Abbott besides aggressively bucked the Biden administration’s pandemic policies, angering immoderate of Texas’ largest schools and employers by banning disguise and vaccine mandates.

Despite the blimpish argumentation victories, Abbott faces unit from the close flank of his party. Two blimpish firebrands, including erstwhile Florida congressman Allen West, person launched superior challenges. Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Abbott but besides has pressured him to audit the state’s full 2020 predetermination results implicit mendacious claims of fraud, adjacent though helium won Texas. Abbott has refused.

Still, the Texas politician enters the contention with a $55 cardinal run warfare chest, the biggest of immoderate incumbent politician successful the country.

Trump’s was a constrictive triumph by Texas standards, 5.5 percent points, a person decorativeness than his triumph successful the storied battleground of Ohio. For deflated Democrats, it was impervious that Texas is turning — albeit painfully slowly.

The enactment struggled for months to place a challenger to Abbott, resulting successful a “Beto oregon bust” program reflecting the enduring skepticism adjacent successful their ain ranks. No different Democrats person entered the contention oregon person flirted with challenging Abbott.

Actor Matthew McConaughey, who lives successful Austin, has teased a tally for politician for months but has not said whether helium would marque 1 arsenic a Republican oregon a Democrat.

Any changeable for O’Rourke volition necessitate astatine slightest a interaction of the magic of his Senate tally against Cruz, erstwhile the onetime punk rocker from El Paso won implicit suburban moderates and road-tripped to the reddest of Texas’ 254 counties. He said helium volition again amusement up successful pugnacious places for Democrats, who for decades person failed to construe torrid maturation and demographic shifts successful Texas to a way retired of the governmental wilderness.

Supercharged Texas has boomed to astir 30 cardinal radical implicit the past decennary and has 5 of the nation’s 12 largest cities. Texas’ explosive maturation is driven astir wholly by caller Latino and Black residents, traditionally Democratic voters, and Democrats accidental those demographic shifts combined with fatigue implicit crises and GOP civilization wars could thrust Abbott retired of office.

Republicans person mocked O’Rourke arsenic overhyped since helium dropped retired of the statesmanlike race. One of O’Rourke’s archetypal projects aft ending his White House bid — starring a complaint to flip the Texas House — failed to prime up a azygous further spot for Democrats.