Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke announced his candidacy for Texas governor in the 2022 election after months of public speculation.
O’Rourke shared a video on Twitter in which he says Texans were abandoned by their elected leaders last February when the electric grid failed and left millions without power.
"I’m running for governor. Together, we can push past the small and divisive politics that we see in Texas today – and get back to the big, bold vision that used to define Texas. A Texas big enough for all of us,” O’Rourke wrote in his tweet.
This comes as O’Rourke said those in positions of power are no longer focused on the things the public really wants them to do.
“It’s a symptom of a much larger problem that we have in Texas right now,” O’Rourke said in the video. “Those in positions of public trust have stopped listening to, serving, paying attention to and trusting the people of Texas.”
Instead, he said they have been focusing on extremist policies surrounding abortion and permitless carry, issues that divide the public further.
“It’s a really small vision for such a big state, but it doesn’t have to be that way and I know that together we can get back to being big again,” O’Rourke said.
According to Houston Public Media, O'Rourke, who fielded a failed bid for the U.S. Senate in 2018, is the first Democrat to issue a challenge to Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott.
Abbott, who is running for a third term, said O'Rourke would just be a puppet of the President Joe Biden administration and said he doesn't share the vision of Texas that most Texans hold.
This marks the third time in nearly five years that O'Rourke has run for office, the Texas Standard reported. Aside from losing to Ted Cruz in the most recent midterms, O'Rourke languished in the Democratic primary for president.
A recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll states Abbott is currently ahead of O'Rourke by nine points in a hypothetical contest.