Beto O’Rourke Returns to the Trail, Rallying Against President Trump
After three high-profile but unsuccessful campaigns, Beto O’Rourke is back on the trail. This time, he’s rallying the resistance against President Donald Trump.
“We have clearly the greatest challenge that we’ve ever faced as a country, and it’s not just Donald Trump,” O’Rourke told The Dallas Morning News. “It’s also clear that our country is coming apart, and was coming apart before Trump, and our institutions and our government weren’t working for everybody.”
O’Rourke’s Public Tour
The former congressman from El Paso, who forged a national profile in his 2020 run for president, will host a 4 p.m. Saturday town hall event at Anderson’s Eatery & Distillery in Denton. The rally, one of five O’Rourke has staged across the state, is sponsored by his group Powered By People. He’s had events in Mansfield, Wichita Falls, and Fort Bend County, where he was joined by Minnesota governor and 2024 vice presidential candidate Tim Walz.
Does the public tour signal another run for statewide office for O’Rourke? For now, he’s just out talking with people and listening to what they need. He loves public events, and said they provide an outlet for political action.
Political Points
Texas Governor candidate Beto O’Rourke, center, takes a photo with one of the owners of Kutinfed Barbershop, Willie Horn, right, and his son William Horn, 10, ahead of campaigning in the barbershop in Dallas on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. (Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)
O’Rourke’s Strategy
“My theory of the case is that the only way we’re going to overcome things is by bringing people together,” O’Rourke said. “It’s not going to be Republicans who are now in power who are going to make this better. And frankly, it’s not just going to be Democrats, who are trying to gain power, who are going to make it better. It’s got to be people across the state, across the political spectrum, including, perhaps, people who dropped out of politics because it just doesn’t seem to be working for them.”
O’Rourke being back on the trail has been raising eyebrows. In 2018, he came within 2.6 percentage points of beating Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. He parlayed that campaign into a failed run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. And in 2022, Gov. Greg Abbott beat him in the race for governor.
Focusing on Being Useful
He says he’s now focused on “being useful” rather than deciding whether to run for office.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to be useful, and right now that is organizing, registering voters, recruiting and leading volunteers across the state,” O’Rourke said. “If at some point it makes sense to do something else, I’m open to it. I’ll do anything, anytime, anywhere, no matter the odds or the conventional political wisdom. It’s never deterred me. It’s never decided things for me.”
Lessons Learned
O’Rourke said there are lessons in the humbling defeats Texas Democrats have had through the years. The party hasn’t won a statewide race since 1994.
“One of the things I’ve learned from watching Republicans is they have been really good at and very focused on building power over the long term,” he said. “And Democrats, I mean, God bless them, but it’s always boom or bust.
“It’s like, Hey, you got Beto O’Rourke or Wendy Davis or Colin Allred. We’ll get all excited about the top of the ticket, and then it doesn’t work out, and everybody kind of fades away until the next person comes along, and that’s just not going to get it done in Texas,” he said.
Potential Democratic Candidates
O’Rourke said there were plenty of potential 2026 Democratic candidates for statewide office.
“There’s a lot on the ballot,” he said. “You’ve got to be working year-round, at least on the organizing part.”
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (left) is seeking reelection. He faces a challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton (right) in the 2026 Republican primary. This is a composite of two Associated Press photos.(The Associated Press / AP)
Opportunities for Democrats
He also believes Democrats could have a unique opportunity if next year Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton beats John Cornyn for the GOP Senate nomination.
Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred or state Sen. Nathan Johnson, both of Dallas, are considering Senate campaigns for the seat held by Corn
