Democrat Beto O'Rourke says he'll run for Senate if Texans want him to
Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat, indicated that if Texans want him to run for the U.S. Senate, he will mount another election bid.
"But if it comes to pass that this is what the people of Texas want, that it's the highest and best use of what I can give to you, then yes I will," O'Rourke said while responding to someone at a town hall event who asked the former lawmaker if he would run.
O'Rourke served in the U.S. House of Representatives from early 2013 through early 2019, but he has fallen flat in bids for U.S. Senate, president, and governor.
He lost a 2022 Lone Star State gubernatorial bid to incumbent GOP Gov. Greg Abbott.
The Democrat announced but later dropped a presidential bid in 2019.
He lost a 2018 U.S. Senate contest to incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.
Responding to a post on X regarding O'Rourke's comment that he would run if that's what Texans want, GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah tweeted, "They don't."
Texas state Rep. Mitch Little, a Republican, tweeted, "'THIS SUMMER…from the producers who brought you 'BETO' and 'BETO,' you'll fall in love—again—with 'BETO.'"
Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who has served in the Senate for more than two decades, is up for re-election in 2026.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has mounted a Republican Senate primary challenge against Cornyn.
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