Former representative of El Paso, Texas and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke announced that he will run for governor of Texas on Monday in 2022.
Beto O’Rourke announces bid for Texas governor in 2022
Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke, who has previously had failed bids for the Senate and the presidency, announced on Monday that he will run for governor of Texas in 2022.
His announcement means that incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott will face a well-known Democrat challenger.
In his initial campaign video announcement, O’Rourke primarily focused on the failure of the electricity grid during last February’s winter storm, which left millions without power and heat, NBC reported.
“When the electricity grid failed, and those in power failed all of us,” O’Rourke said in the video. “It was the people of Texas who were willing to put their differences behind them and get to work doing the job at hand, which meant helping our fellow Texans get through that crisis.”
“We did this out of a sense of duty and responsibility to one another,” O’Rourke continued. “Now imagine if the governor of Texas felt that same way. Well, there’s something that you and I can do about that.”
“Those in positions of public trust have stopped listening to, serving, and paying attention to and trusting the people of Texas,” O’Rourke added. “They’re not focused on the things that we really want them to do, like making sure we have a functioning electricity grid or that we’re creating the best jobs in America right here in Texas.”
O’Rourke has remained active in Texas politics
O’Rourke has maintained a high profile in Texas while speaking out against many issues, including abortion, voting restrictions, and gun control.
O’Rourke slammed Republican policies, referring to them as divisive and “extremist policies around abortion or permit-less carry.”
O’Rourke launched a political group focusing on registering Texas voters and helped raise funds over the summer for Texas Democrats who fled to block Republican-led legislation on voting restrictions, CBS reported.
Will the third time be the charm for O’Rourke?
O’Rourke has attempted to reenter politics twice in recent years. He previously lost a close race for the Senate against Ted Cruz in (R-TX) in 2018, coming within two percentage points. In March, he entered the 2020 Democratic presidential primary and dropped out after eight months in 2019, KXAN NBC reported.
Republican response
After O’Rourke’s candidacy announcement, Mark Miner, the communication director for Texans for Greg Abbott, issued a response.
“The last thing Texans need is President Biden’s radical liberal agenda coming to Texas under the guise of Beto O’Rourke,” Miner said. “The contrast for the direction of Texas couldn’t be clearer.”
