Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke predicted he can turn Texas blue in the 2020 general election if he’s the party’s nominee.
A Democrat has not won the state since the 1976 presidential election, when Jimmy Carter beat Gerald Ford.
“Yes, I think we can win Texas,” O’Rourke said Tuesday in New Hampshire. “I think we’ve proven that we know how to campaign. … We’ve listened to the stories our fellow Texans have told us. We’ve incorporated it in the way that we campaign and the way in which I wish to serve.”
President Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Texas by more than 800,000 votes in the 2016 election, though it was a slimmer margin than Mitt Romney had over former President Barack Obama in 2012.
O’Rourke, a former congressman, rose to national prominence in the 2018 midterm elections when he had a strong showing against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. O’Rourke visited all 254 counties in the state and raised $70 million in campaign contributions. He lost to Cruz by more than 200,000 votes.
[Also read: Beto O’Rourke ate dirt after losing to Ted Cruz]
