Former presidential contender Beto O’Rourke predicted the end of “Trumpism” if Joe Biden is able to notch a win in reliably red Texas.
O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman who ran a closer-than-expected 2018 midterm challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, said that if Biden is able to capture Texas, it would be a “seismic” event that would “once and for all end the Trump presidency and Trumpism in America” Tuesday at an Axios event.
O’Rourke ran against Biden during the election primaries but eventually dropped from the race in November. The Texas Democrat said that if Biden wins Texas, it “will allow America to start the necessary next chapter for our country.”
A Democratic win in Texas is a long shot and hasn’t been done since Jimmy Carter won the state in 1976, but polls are indicating that it could be a close race. A RealClearPolitics average of state polls has President Trump leading by 3.5 points. In 2016, Trump beat Hillary Clinton by a sound 9-point margin.
Political scientists studying Texas have said that while unlikely at this point, if Biden were to capture the Lone Star State’s 38 Electoral College votes, it would signal a proverbial nail in the coffin for Trump, given that a Texas win for Biden would likely mean he won many other states.
O’Rourke is putting a lot of stock in younger voters to turn his state blue for the first time in nearly half a century.
“Young people are going to be the vanguard of this. We saw in 2018 where I came very close to defeating Ted Cruz and won more votes than any Democrat had ever won. Young people led the day. Young voter turnout was up 500% in early voting in Texas over the last midterm election,” he said.
“And then, you name an issue, whether it is reproductive choice, climate change, access to healthcare, fighting back against the pandemic — young people are on the front lines forcing the conversations and the necessary change that needs to follow,” he added.
The remarks come as Democrats gear up for the second night of the primarily virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention.
