Beto O’Rourke says that he doesn’t plan on endorsing in the Senate Democratic primary between Texas State Rep. James Talarico and U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett.
In an appearance on the Texas Take podcast, the former congressman from El Paso called both candidates “generational talents,” saying both were equipped with the fundraising skills, messaging and media presence to beat whoever wins the Republican primary.
“I believe in the Democratic voters of the state of Texas, who are going to have a real close and personal look at these two phenomenal candidates that we have in James and Jasmine,” O’Rourke said.
Whoever wins the March 3 Democratic primary will face either incumbent John Cornyn or scandal-mired Attorney General Ken Paxton for the seat. U.S. Congressman Wesley Hunt is also running, but trailing behind in a distant third place according to recent polling.
Early last year, it appeared O’Rourke was gearing up to announce that he was running for another Texas office, despite losing his past three bids for senate, president and governor.
Indeed, O’Rourke’s candidacy for statewide office felt assured during a San Antonio rally on June 28 that also featured Talarico, U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro and former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
But later reports of a May 31 meeting between potential contenders, including Colin Allred, indicate that they couldn’t agree on a slate that would avoid internal competition.
Among those on stage at the San Antonio rally, only a couple actually followed through with campaigns. These include Talarico, who delivered a stirring autobiographical speech about being raised by a poor single mom and teaching school in San Antonio.
Despite rumors of a potential long-shot run for governor, Nirenberg ultimately launched a bid for Bexar County County Judge, seeking to unseat Peter Sakai.
On the Texas Take podcast, O’Rourke discussed why he ultimately decided not to run for office this time around, indicating that he’s more concerned with defeating fascism than he is with personal glory.
”I’m doing what I can, with what I have and where I am, to make sure we come through and save the country,” he said. “If Democrats lose, then the consolidation of power in the hands of the president will be unstoppable. This slide to authoritarianism will reach its natural conclusion. We will live in a fascist country.”
To that end, O’Rourke is using his voter mobilization engine Powered by People to activate new democratic voters and keep them engaged with personalized outreach. The idea is to compliment the work already being done by those campaigning in the state, O’Rourke said.
O’Rourke continued, saying it’s the kind of party infrastructure that he could have benefited from in during his U.S. Senate bid against Ted Cruz in 2018, when he lost to Cruz by just 2.7 percentage points, or 215,000 votes.
“We’re going to make sure we have enough net new Democratic voters – who aren’t just on the rolls, but are engaged, involved, informed and turn out to vote,” O’Rourke said in the interview. “That could make the difference. And that is exactly the kind of thing that I wish was in place when I was running in 2018.”
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