ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke wooed voters in Northern Virginia on Wednesday, telling them the 2017 blue wave that washed over the once-purple commonwealth was the inspiration behind his failed 2018 Senate bid in Texas.
“We are here, the first announced contender for the Democratic nomination to show up in the Commonwealth of Virginia, because as important as 2020 is, and it is, 2019 sets the stage,” O’Rourke said during a meet-and-greet in Fairfax County.
“And what you are doing, what you are advocating for, and those seats that will change in 2019, that will allow you to maintain the gains in healthcare, that will allow you to pass universal background checks, to allow you to pay teachers and public school educators what they are worth, to allow you to invest in rural broadband throughout the commonwealth and by extension this country, rests of the shoulders of those here today. No pressure,” the former representative from El Paso, Texas, said.
O’Rourke’s visit to Tammy and Alan Kaufax’s house in Alexandria drew roughly 250 people on the second day of his trip to the state affectionately known as the Mother of Presidents, a campaign aide said. The event was one of nine stops he made during his two-day swing.
Lola Quintela, Fairfax County Democrats’ corresponding secretary, told the Washington Examiner the group previously hosted South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg for a fundraiser in October last year.
“In my book, if candidates running in 2020 all come to Virginia, it would be incredibly smart because we’re one of the only states with major elections this cycle,” Quintela said.
All 40 seats in Virginia’s state Senate and 100 districts in its House of Delegates will be in play in November with a new map many experts expect will be favorable to Democrats after a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
According to RealClearPolitics’ polling average, O’Rourke is currently drawing about 8.4% support nationwide out of a crowded primary field of more than a dozen contenders.
