Beto O’Rourke, a third-term Democratic congressman from El Paso, Texas will run for the U.S. Senate in 2018, aiming to unseat former GOP presidential contender Sen. Ted Cruz.
The Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday that Democratic Party sources in the Lone Star State confirm that an event Mr. O’Rourke has scheduled in his district on Friday is in fact an official campaign announcement. “He has traveled heavily in Texas over the last three months making contacts, barely concealing his political plans,” observed the Chronicle.
For his part, Mr. Cruz is on the record anticipating a clear path to re-nomination, telling a conservative radio host in January that he doesn’t anticipate a primary challenge.
Earlier this month, Mr. O’Rourke generated favorable press riding shotgun with Rep. Will Hurd, Texas Republican, on a spur-of-the-moment bipartisan road trip from San Antonio to Washington, D.C., which was documented on social media, naturally.
“Their two-day ’Congressional Cannonball Run’ was filled with the expected fast food stops and singing along to music, along with marathon discussions about policy prompted by questions on Facebook Live and from people who called in,” Time magazine noted on March 16.
An unabashed liberal who cruised to election three times in a safe district — he participated in House Democrats’ pro-gun control sit-in on the House floor in June of last year — Mr. O’Rourke faces an uphill battle in a statewide race in deep-red Texas.
No Democrat has won a Senate race in the Lone Star State since Lloyd Bentsen in 1988.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.