O’Rourke prepping run for governor in Texas: report

Beto O’Rourke is reportedly making plans to run for governor in Texas.

According to Axios, O’Rourke has been making calls all over the state seeking advice from political allies. 

His advisers, including his former chief of staff, David Wysong, told the news outlet that no decision has been made. 

“He has been making and receiving calls with people from all over the state,” Wysong said. 

Axios reported Democrats say O’Rourke’s national name, combined with a pre-existing network of donors, make him a strong potential candidate. 

“We hope that he’s going to run,” Gilberto Hinojosa, chair of the Texas Democratic Party, said to Axios.

“We think he’ll be our strongest candidate. We think he can beat Abbott, because he’s vulnerable,” Hinojosa added, referring to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R).

Abbott has recently stirred controversy with attempts to ban mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandates, an effort to ban abortion after six weeks and decisions to close entry points to Texas as thousands of Haitian migrants gathered under an international bridge along the border in Del Rio.

O’Rourke, a former congressman, ran for senator in 2018 but was defeated by Sen. Ted Cruz by about 215,000 votes.

The development comes as new polling shows plunging approval ratings for Abbott.