O’Rourke launched his campaign in November after a year of speculation following the end of his presidential bid that burned brightly and flamed out quickly.
The Democrat has criticized Abbott on a myriad of issues — the power grid, the GOP election reform bill, constitutional carry, and abortion.
Abbott, likewise, has homed in on the medley of left-wing positions O’Rourke took during his short-lived presidential campaign.
Both candidates possess fundraising prowess. Abbott has hauled in $45 million and as of the pre-primary filing period had $50 million cash-on-hand. O’Rourke, meanwhile, has collected $10 million in his few months on the trail.
During his 2018 bid against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), O’Rourke brought in $84 million from across the country. O’Rourke only lost two counties across the entire state in this year’s primary, vastly outperforming his 2018 self in the senate race. This time, he took every South Texas county despite losing some four years ago.
Abbott carried every county across the state in his primary victory.
According to The Texan’s Texas Partisan Index, the state is an R-54% district, meaning it favors Republicans by 4 points. Democrats made great hay about “turning Texas blue” in 2020, an effort that fell short but heavily affected down-ballot races in favor of Democrats.
All eyes now turn to November and the governor’s race that will command national attention.
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
