Beto O’Rourke announced on Monday he will run for Texas Governor, challenging two-term Republican incumbent Greg Abbott.
O’Rourke, the former El Paso congressman and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, has been a famed party activist since his run against Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.
“Those in positions of public trust have stopped listening to, serving and paying attention to - and trusting - the people of Texas,” O’Rourke said in a video announcing his campaign. He contrasted the “extremist policies” of Texas Republicans that have limited abortion and expanded gun rights with positions he said he would support, like legalizing marijuana and expanding Medicaid, the New York Times reports.
Gov. Abbott’s campaign responded to O’Rourke’s announcement by linking him to Biden visually, and discussed his support of Biden’s “pro-open border policies.”
“The last thing Texans need is President Biden’s radical liberal agenda coming to Texas under the guise of Beto O’Rourke,” Mark Miner, a campaign spokesman, said in the statement.
