Beto O’Rourke in Fort Worth for election night party after winning Tarrant in 2018
Democratic candidate for governor Beto O’Rourke plans to spend election night in Fort Worth after winning the historically red county in 2018 while bidding for U.S. Senate.
O’Rourke’s campaign is hosting an event at the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium at 7 p.m. March 1 in downtown Fort Worth. Early voting is underway for the March 1 primaries. He is the front-runner in a five-way race for governor in the Democratic primary. Early voting ends Feb. 25.
In recent years, some Democrats running statewide — including O’Rourke — have had narrow victories in Tarrant County, but the county has typically elected Republicans.
O’Rourke in 2018 beat U.S. Sen Ted Cruz in the county by about 4,300 votes, 49.9% of the votes to Cruz’s 49.2%. In 2020, President Joe Biden, challenging former President Donald Trump, won the county with 49.3% of votes. Trump won Tarrant County in 2016 with 51.7% of votes to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 43.1%.
The winner will appear on the November ballot with the top vote-getter in the Republican primary. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has drawn seven primary opponents. A recent poll from the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Politics Project found that Abbott has the support of 60% of likely Republican primary voters polled. O’Rourke led on the Democratic side with the support of 93% of likely Democratic primary voters.
In a hypothetical November matchup between the two candidates, the poll found that 47% of those polled said they’d vote for Abbott and 37% said they’d vote for O’Rourke. Abbott will be in Corpus Christi on election night.
During a recent editorial board interview, O’Rourke expressed confidence that he can be competitive in Tarrant County.
“I think we’re really competitive in Tarrant County, and it’s one that we are not assuming a single thing about and not assuming a single vote from,” he said. “So I hope to demonstrate to you and to the voters in Tarrant County that we will work harder than any other statewide candidate in the history of this state to earn those votes and to once again win this county, and win it by a greater margin than by the skin of our teeth, which is the official, political, scientific term for the margin in 2018.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 7:01 PM.
