Beto O’Rourke won’t rule out running for governor, but is keeping focus on voting rights fight

[ad_1]

WASHINGTON – Beto O’Rourke could very well be a candidate for governor, but he wants to focus on his grassroots work for now.

“I am committed to this fight for the right to vote and the preservation of our democracy in America,” he said on Friday. “We are in the really last hours of this fight and there is not much time left for us and I want to make sure that I put 100% of my focus and effort on it.”

Although he has not announced his candidacy for anything, he has not ruled out running for governor, a move that has frozen much of the democratic field.

“I want to pull this off, and after that, I really want to see how I can best serve Texas,” said the former El Paso Congressman, who has been closer than any Democrat to winning a statewide contest holding US Sen since 1994 Ted Cruz below 51% in 2018. “This could very well be a candidate for office, and it could continue the work I’m doing with Powered by People, which registers Texans for voting across the state.”

While the Republican governor’s primaries are crowded, the Democrats have largely remained silent. The party establishment is waiting to see if O’Rourke, a widespread activist and organizer who has got within 2.6 percentage points of Cruz, pulls the trigger.

Abbott is already facing major challenges from conservative political commentator Chad Prather, wealthy real estate developer and former Senator Don Huffines, and former GOP chairman Allen West, a Florida Congressman.

Another factor that sure plays a role in who’s running is redistribution. Prospective candidates – including incumbents – are waiting for lawmakers to redraw the boundaries for the districts of Congress and the U.S. House and Senate this fall to decide whether to run again, retire, or move to office switch.

According to The Texas Tribune, many Democrats are speculating that O’Rourke will run for election. Just look at his itinerary, they said. In June alone, he made stops in Houston, Prairie View, Brenham, Longview, Wichita Falls, Dallas, Denton, Texarkana, San Angelo, Austin, Marshall, Henderson and Center – presumably on a tour to win support for federal suffrage, but it did double duty as a prelude to another nationwide run.

One reason many Democrats put their hopes in O’Rourke is because of his proven ability to raise funds and organize. He has raised over $ 600,000 for the Texas Democrats who fled the State House and camped in Washington to block a GOP election law. He helped organize and will be a major attraction on July 31st in a March for Democracy from Georgetown, Texas to the State Capitol in Austin.

On Thursday, O’Rourke was at home in El Paso working with volunteers to register voters in a Colonia, an unincorporated community in the far eastern part of El Paso county.

“This is another way of responding to this attempt to suppress votes, just get more voters on the list,” he said, referring to the new rules Abbott and GOP allies are trying to enforce through the legislature .

About his next step, he said, “I don’t know. But in whatever form, I stand up for the public service in Texas and for Texas. “

[ad_2]