Beto O’Rourke has officially announced that he is running for governor of Texas in 2022.
O’Rourke took to Twitter to make his decision formal and stated that it was time for Texas to epitomize a state that was reflective of all of its citizens.
"I’m running for governor. 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," he wrote.
O’Rourke cited in a video post that the state’s electricity grid failing in February was a calling card, saying citizens in the state without power were “abandoned by those elected to serve them.”
“It’s a symptom of a much larger problem that we have in Texas right now,” he said. “Those in positions of public trust have stopped listening to serving and paying attention to, and trusting the people of Texas, so they’re not focused on the things that we really want them to do like making sure that we have a functioning electricity grid, or that we are creating the best jobs in America right here in Texas, or that we have world-class schools or that we make progress on the things that most of us actually agree on like expanding Medicaid, or legalizing marijuana.
“Instead they are focusing on the kind of extremist policies around abortion or permitless carry or even in our schools that really only divide us and keep us apart, and stop us from working together on the truly big things that we want to achieve for one another."
Gov. Greg Abbott noticed that O’Rourke had announced his candidacy and countered that O’Rourke would not stand up for the issues that Texans are passionate about.
“Beto wants to: – defund the police – kill good paying oil & gas jobs – allow chaotic open border policies – support the failing Biden agenda – impose socialism – take your guns. Bring it,” he wrote on Twitter.
O'Rourke, who lost a close race to Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for the U.S. Senate in 2018, is the first Democrat to announce that he is running for governor.
A recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll currently has Abbott ahead of O’Rourke by 9 points.
O'Rourke also failed to gain traction during the Democratic primary for president, and this will mark the third time in five years that the 49-year-old O'Rourke has run for public office.