We recommend Beto O’Rourke in Democratic primary for Governor

On Feb 13, 2022

Icarus, as far as we know, never lived in El Paso, but the mythical Greek hero’s ill-fated flight toward the sun is a handy metaphor for the recent political ambitions of Beto O’Rourke, Texas’ best-known Democrat and now a candidate for governor. Four years ago, the little-known three-term congressman representing a far-West Texas district had the audacity to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. To the surprise of Democrats and Republicans alike, he almost defeated the Republican incumbent.

O’Rourke’s energy and charisma as he campaigned in every Texas county, combined with an engaging facility with the issues, gave beleaguered Texas Democrats hope that he might lead them out of the wilderness of despond. Despite his narrow loss, Democratic eyes lit up when they realized that his spirited campaign had helped the party win 12 seats in the Texas House and two in Congress. He also raised $80 million, mostly from small individual donations.

Suddenly a national figure, the defeated Democrat launched a presidential campaign. Like Icarus, he burned and crashed.

Now, singed and perhaps humbled by that ill-fated effort, O’Rourke seeks to become the first Democratic governor of Texas since the late Ann Richards lost her 1994 bid for re-election to George W. Bush. One of five candidates seeking the Democratic nomination, he’s by far the best known and certainly the best prepared to lead this state if Texans elect him governor. He has our enthusiastic endorsement in the Democratic primary.

If Gov. Greg Abbott manages to vanquish challengers from the far right in his bid for a third term, O’Rourke also will be the candidate best equipped to hold him accountable for his seven years in office, even as he articulates a vision for Texas going forward. When he spoke via Zoom to the Chronicle editorial board last week — from a motel room in the little East Texas town of Emory — he emphasized what he called “the big things,” including jobs, expanding Medicaid, reducing property taxes and a world-class education system.

He discussed maintaining Texas’ — and Houston’s — pride of position as the energy capital of the world. Fossil-fuel technology is not going away anytime soon, he noted, but by expanding our leadership in wind and solar, as well as battery-storage technology, geothermal and hydrogen, we can nurture a strong economy. A forward-looking energy focus, the candidate maintained, can create more than 1 million jobs in the coming decades.

We asked about challenges he’s facing on the campaign trail this time around, how much, for instance, his infamous quote, “hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15” is still ringing in the ears of gun owners who might otherwise be inclined to vote for him but have the false impression that he doesn’t support Second Amendment rights.

“It’ll be an issue for some people, no two ways about it,” he said. “And yes, there will be folks who will come up, and they may have gotten a message from Greg Abbott that says that I want to take away everything that they own, including the butter knife.”

But he told us it gives him an opportunity to explain why he made that bold declaration in one of the presidential debates: “Look, I don’t know how you all would have reacted if 23 people in your community were slaughtered. If you were there, the day it happened and met the family members in the ICU waiting room who said, ‘why in the world, Beto, does somebody need a weapon like this in our community? And why were we as Hispanics hunted down for the color of our skin or ethnicity or country of national origin? And what are you, Beto, gonna do about that?’ Those are serious questions.”

And he answered them, before a national audience and political opponents who will never let him forget it.

We asked whether he’s noticed less excitement from supporters on the campaign trail this go-around.

“Look, when I’m in a park at six o’clock, and it’s dark in December, and it’s, you know, 35 degrees in Amarillo, Texas, and 350 people show up as they did a month and a half ago, that’s a good sign to me,” he said.

Still, he’s gotten four years older since his punk-rocker political celebrity filled stadiums with fiery crowds and his lifelong nickname became ubiquitous on urban lawns and car bumpers. And he’s figured out a few things: “Maybe a lesson learned is, it cannot be about the person or the candidate,” he said. “It cannot center on a single human being. It’s got to be about all of us, if we’re going to be successful.”

But first things first, O’Rourke must win the primary. He faces four challengers, none of whom has raised more than $10,000. Michael Cooper is a Beaumont pastor, civil rights leader and business leader who lost in the Democratic primaries for lieutenant governor in 2018 and the U.S. Senate in 2020. Cooper, 56, delivers sound ideas in his down-home, East Texas baritone such as making vocational training a part of the curriculum starting in sixth grade.

Richard Wakeland, 66, offers the strongest contrast to O’Rourke. He told the editorial board he is a conservative Democrat who will protect women’s rights and the oil and gas industry, attempting to represent the middle of the political spectrum. He would “secure our border with an economic wall, not a physical wall” and protect Second Amendment rights. Two first-time candidates, Inocencio Barrientez, 71, a retired Seguin resident, and Joy Diaz, 45, a former journalist with KUT radio in Austin, did not screen with us.

O’Rourke, of course, already has his sights set on Abbott, accusing the governor of “incompetence, corruption and cruelty,” during his seven years in office. He faulted the governor for his inability to “keep the lights on in Texas” during winter storm Uri, his handling of the pandemic and his efforts to restrict voting and encourage the proliferation of guns, among several far-right initiatives.

Obviously, Democrats are not the party of power in this state, but a candidate as experienced, capable and eloquent as O’Rourke can force a conversation that Texas voters need to hear. When one party, Democrat or Republican, manages to dominate for decades, voters succumb to lassitude. Conversations grow stale and formulaic. New ideas wither.

With O’Rourke in the race this fall, we look forward to a lively debate about real issues. Texas voters will be the beneficiaries.