Beto O’Rourke joined the crowded group of Democratic Party 2020 hopefuls, announcing Thursday morning that he is running for president.
“This is a defining moment of truth for this country and for every single one of us,” the 46-year-old former Texas congressman said in a video announcing his candidacy. “The challenges that we face right now, the interconnected crises in our economy, our democracy and our climate have never been greater.”
O’Rourke, who appeared in the video with his wife Amy, said he would run a “positive campaign” that “seeks to bring out the very best from every single one of us, that seeks to unite a very divided country.”
Nevertheless, he said the nation faces “a moment of peril.” In an obvious poke at President Trump, O’Rourke asserted, “If immigration is a problem, it’s the best possible problem for this country to have.”
O’Rourke said he will stage a “kickoff” rally for his campaign March 30 in El Paso, Texas.
[Related: Text confirmation?: Beto O’Rourke tells El Paso TV station he’s ‘running’]
O’Rourke gained national prominence during 2018 in his bid to replace Ted Cruz in the Senate and become the first statewide elected Democrat in a generation. He fell short in that effort but ran a competitive race before falling by just two percent to Cruz.
During his time on that campaign trail, O’Rourke raised tens of millions of dollars from donors across the country in a grassroots effort that captivated both the media and Democrats across the country.
In February, reports surfaced that O’Rourke was considering another Senate run in 2020 — this time taking on Republican incumbent John Cornyn. But O’Rourke has decided to seek a much higher office.
Recent polling suggests that Trump could face a fight in Texas. Gallup found that the president’s average approval through 2018 was 41 percent, although 48 percent of Texans supported a wall on the Southern border.
A Quinnipiac survey released at the end of February found that 46 percent of declared Texan voters would support O’Rourke in a general election, while 47 percent would support the president.
