EL PASO, Texas — Win or lose Tuesday, Beto O’Rourke’s legacy in this border town is already cemented as a hometown boy whose quest for higher office helped reclaim the narrative of an underdog city, supporters and analysts here say.
“Beto is the ultimate ambassador for this city, and that’s very important for El Paso that he’s crisscrossing the state, talking with everyone from rock stars to celebrities to everyday people and he connects with them," said Richard Pineda, a political commentator and director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communications Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso. “And that’s important because of issues like the border and immigration. He knows the heart and soul of his community and understands why this is such a great place.”
On Tuesday, O’Rourke kicked off Election Day with a rally in San Antonio, followed by visits to Dallas and Houston, and was scheduled to end his day in El Paso. At every stop, he urged people to the polls and said the victory was within reach, repeating stalwart issues from abortion rights to how to stop school shootings.
In Dallas, he greeted voters in English and Spanish, urging people to the polls: “Spread the word. We’re gonna do this, OK?”
Still, early voter turnout is down in Texas compared to the 2018 midterm election, an ominous sign for the O’Rourke campaign, which has made first-time voters and college students a top priority in his attempt to prevent Gov. Greg Abbott from winning a third term in office.
Running against an incumbent whose party occupies every state office could be an uphill battle, but that’s not stopping Rosario and Lili Holguín from canvassing for their candidate in El Paso, alongside other volunteers, and calling friends and family until the last minute, reminding them of the importance of voting Tuesday. The campaign, they say, has helped push back against Republican detractors who treat their city as political theater, fomenting fear-mongering of their community, which is one of the safest in the nation.
“He’s given us hope that change is possible,” said Lili Holguín, 52, whose family has known the O’Rourke family for decades. “He’s a fighter no matter the odds, just like his hometown. He’s also decent and isn’t trying to scare you.”
“Beto doesn’t just represent El Paso,” Rosario added. “He represents the state of Texas. He’s a genuine, authentic example of Texas and its destiny as a bilingual, binational place to live.”
O’Rourke served on El Paso’s City Council for six years before becoming a congressman in 2012. He owns a software company and he’s often seen jogging by the mountain before dawn and dropping off his kids to school.
Many voters here see O’Rourke as an ambassador for the city and West Texas. He, along with Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones and R&B musician Khalid are some of the prominent figures representing El Paso on the national stage.
O’Rourke’s message throughout his campaigns is to talk about the border as the place where millions of people live and prosper, bound by a century-old common culture and where the future of multiculturalism lies.
He calls Abbott’s messaging about the border “stunts” and instead talks about his city, a place of immigrants, as also one about opportunity and about building trust with U.S.’s southern neighbors. Those two contrasting visions of the border region is what helped motivate the Holguíns and hundreds of volunteers to knock on doors in this city, whose history of low voter turnout continued to be a factor in this election.
“The rest of Texas is looking more and more like the border,” Rosario said. “We can’t afford not to vote.”
Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke, 50, was born here, the son of Pat and Melissa O’Rourke, a local politician and businesswoman, respectively. He has run in three consecutive races: U.S. Senate (2018) the presidency (2020) and now governor, making a name for himself that regardless of the outcome Tuesday will keep him relevant for years to come, say analysts and political leaders.
“I think Beto, win or lose, will remain a powerful political figure for a long time,” said Pineda. “Everything about a contemporary election is data, data, data — data management to data harvesting. He knows exactly who’s on the Democratic side, who’s wanting to give money and as you look to the next wave of elections, it will be helpful to national Democrats as they continue to try and turn Texas blue.”
Moreover, O’Rourke’s focus on young, first-time voters will have lasting consequences, said José Rodríguez, a veteran politician and former Texas senator from El Paso. He added that O’Rourke’s best chance lies in voter turnout.
Regardless of Tuesday’s outcome, he said, “Beto has inspired young people in El Paso and throughout the state to participate in the electoral process and fight, fight, fight for change,” Rodriguez said.
In every race, O’Rourke has proven to be an efficient fundraising machine against the incumbent candidate. Until last week, O’Rourke’s campaign had outraised Abbott for consecutive reporting periods, until last week, when prominent GOP backers wrote big checks for Abbott.
Yet in the end, Pineda said, O’Rourke may not be able to outrun a national environment leaning toward Republicans, despite a late-summer respite that gave Democrats glimmers of optimism. O’Rourke has not had the upper hand in any polls, compared with 2018 when he ran against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and regularly showed up within the margin of error. He came within 3 points of beating him.
Polls show Abbott is benefiting from concerns over inflation and the rising costs of goods and services. Many voters blame the uncertain economy on President Joe Biden, and Abbott has used Biden and a campaign foil. Abbott says Biden and O’Rourke are too liberal for Texas. O’Rourke rarely mentions President Joe Biden at rallies. He instead tries to flip the economy issue on Abbott, saying the governor is responsible for high property taxes.
O’Rourke has described Abbott as a failed governor, urging voters that Texas can do better. He’s criticized the governor’s handling of the 2021 winter storm that crippled the state, insisting that the power grid still isn’t fixed.
O’Rourke says the governor hasn’t done enough to curb mass shootings, like the May massacre in Uvalde, where 19 students and 2 teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School. O’Rourke has also campaigned on the need to expand Medicaid, stop the exodus of public school teachers and secure abortion rights for women.
In 2020 he ran for president, taking progressive stands on issues like gun control and renewable energy that Abbott is using against him for this election.
During a 2019 presidential debate in Houston, weeks after a North Texas man drove to El Paso and killed 23 Hispanic shoppers at Walmart, O’Rourke said, “Hell yes,” to a question about whether he would confiscate AR-15-style rifles. The answer could have hurt him in Texas.
Since there are more Republicans in the electorate than Democrats, O’Rourke has tried to maximize turnout in urban areas.
On Monday, former President Barack Obama was featured on automated telephone calls to voters urging them to support O’Rourke.
As the final day of early voting approached, O’Rourke showed signs of the wear and tear of a long campaign. His voice was hoarse and bags formed under his eyes.
The Dallas County early vote numbers were far below the 2018 midterms, which was bad news to a candidate that needed an outsized turnout to pull off an upset over Abbott.
When asked about the low turnout, O’Rourke stayed sunny, though most analysts predicted he faced long odd.
“We’re hustling,” he said. “It’s starting to pick up and I think this hustle on the part of all of our volunteers is starting to produce the results that we want to see.”
O’Rourke then marched with dozens of supporters from his rally at Sue Ellen’s in Oak Lawn to a nearby polling place.
When asked whether his 2020 campaign killed his chances to win a statewide race in Texas, O’Rourke was reflective.
“I don’t know that it did,” he said. “I will always seek to elevate everyone and make sure that we serve and deliver for everyone. That gets away from personalities or previous campaigns and makes it about the future of the state.”
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(Corchado reported from El Paso and Jeffers reported from Dallas.)
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