Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke said on Friday he has no plans to challenge Greg Abbott for the governorship of the lone star state next year.
“I’ve got no plans to run, and I’m very focused on the things that I’m lucky enough to do right now — organizing, registering voters and teaching,” O’Rourke told The Dallas Morning News “I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing now.”
O’Rourke would be the frontrunner in the democratic field if he had decided to run against Abbott. Now he says he would work to elect any Democrat that emerged against Abbott.
Defeating Abbott will not be an easy task. He easily won reelection in 2018, defeating Democrat Lupe Valdez by more than 13 points.
But, O’Rourke is confident that Democrats can defeat Abbott in 2022.
“We have no shortage of talent and no shortage of challenges that we have in this state because of Greg Abbott’s failed leadership that we can correct with competent leaders moving forward,” he said. “There’s more than enough for a candidate to run on, and more than enough qualified Democratic prospective candidates to do that job. I feel very good about our prospects in 2022.”
