O’Rourke dodges whether he’ll make another run at Texas Senate seat – Washington Examiner
beto O’Rourke, former Texas congressman and previous candidate for Senate and president, has not confirmed whether he will run for Senator John Cornyn’s Texas seat in teh upcoming election. Speaking on CNN, O’Rourke emphasized his current focus on holding town halls across Texas and the country to engage with voters, register them, and organize political action. Other Democrats, including Rep. Joaquin Castro and Colin Allred, have also considered or launched campaigns for this historically Republican-held seat. O’rourke highlighted Democrats’ recent successes in Texas, expressing optimism about their chances in 2026 despite Texas being a red state. Meanwhile, Cornyn faces a competitive primary against Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Democrats view as a perhaps less formidable opponent in the general election.
Beto O’Rourke dodges whether he’ll make another run at Texas Senate seat
Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas Democratic congressman, onetime Senate candidate, and past presidential candidate, kept his powder dry Sunday on whether he’ll mount a campaign for Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) seat next year.
“I don’t know,” O’Rourke said on CNN’s State of the Union. “Right now, I’m holding these town halls all over the state of Texas, across the country to listen to people to bring them together and to channel our anger into action, registering people to vote, organizing with voters right now.”
O’Rourke and other prominent Democrats, such as Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), are mulling a run for the red-state seat that Democrats have sought to flip for over a decade. Colin Allred, an ex-congressman and former Biden official, launched his campaign earlier this month despite losing to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) last year by 8.5 points.
O’Rourke lost to Cruz in 2018 and Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) in a bid for governor in 2022. He also ran for president in the 2020 election.
Cornyn is facing a tough primary fight against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a more conservative Republican whom Democrats see as a weaker general election candidate.
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O’Rourke cited Allred and Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX) as examples of Lone Star State Democrats who’ve “defeated entrenched well-funded Republicans.”
“I’m very optimistic about Democrats’ opportunity in 2026,” he said. “In Trump’s last midterm in 2018, when I was running against Ted Cruz, not only did we come close to defeating the sitting senator, but 12 insurgent Democrats defeated 12 incumbent Republicans in the state House.”
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