Beto O’Rourke has announced that he’s running for governor of Texas again.

“I’m running for governor,” O’Rourke wrote on Twitter on Monday morning. “Together, we can push past the small and divisive politics that we see in Texas today — and get back to the big, bold vision that used to define Texas. A Texas big enough for all of us.”

This is the third time that O’Rourke has run for office in just as many election cycles, with him falling short in another Texas gubernatorial run once. While he was initially a phenomenon in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, he dropped out just eight months later as money and fanfare dried up.

“It’s not going to be easy. But it is possible,” O’Rourke said in an interview just before his announcement. “I do believe, very strongly, from listening to people in this state that they’re very unhappy with the direction that (Gov.) Greg Abbott has taken Texas.”

“This past February when the electricity grid failed, and millions of our fellow Texans were without power … they were abandoned by those who were elected to serve and look out for them,” he continued, according to Fox News. “Those in positions of public trust have stopped listening to, serving, paying attention to, and trusting the people of Texas.”

Republicans, however, made it clear that they don’t see O’Rourke as a threat in this race.

“Texas voters have already rejected Beto O’Rourke for statewide office, and they’ll do so again now that they know just how radical he really is,” Republican Governors Association spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement.

“Beto 2.0 vowed to confiscate the firearms of law-abiding citizens, pledged to tear down physical barriers along the border, and supported regulations that would kill over a million jobs across the state and raise taxes and the cost of living on families and small businesses,” she continued. “There’s no telling how far Beto 3.0 will go in his vain attempt to stay relevant after running out of promotions to chase in Washington.”

Meanwhile, the Democrat establishment is supporting O’Rourke, with The Democratic Governors Association backing him as soon as he announced his run.

“.@BetoORourke has been fighting for Texans for years, galvanizing citizens and fighting against the GOP’s outrageous voter suppression efforts and restrictions on reproductive rights,” the DGA said in a tweet. “Now, we’re ready to help him become Texas’s next governor.”

It remains to be seen whether O’Rourke’s latest political run will be successful.

This piece was written by James Samson on November 15, 2021. It originally appeared in RedVoiceMedia.com and is used by permission.

 

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