Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke continues to lag Republican Sen. Ted Cruz by increasingly wider margins in the Texas U.S. Senate race, but his ever-increasing war chest could be signaling an intention to launch a 2020 presidential run.
O’Rourke gained national attention after a constituent asked the Senate hopeful in August if he felt that NFL players kneeling for the national anthem was disrespectful to the country and America’s veterans. In a now viral interaction, O’Rourke disagreed and commended the demonstration. The response lavished praise from the Hollywood elite, springboarding the congressman onto the daytime and late night television circuit.
As the Senate race tightened to a margin of single digits in the primarily red state, speculation of O’Rourke entering the national political arena began to percolate. Later, O’Rourke was even included in CNN’s 2020 presidential poll, where he ranked as a top 10 contender. Tied with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, O’Rourke received 4 percent of the total vote.
“Beto is running for president in 2020. I’ve been telling everyone this for months,” Jesse Kelly, a Houston talk show host and former U.S. Marine, tweeted Tuesday. “He’s not even trying to win in Texas. He has smartly build up his national profile and will finish this race with $20 million in the bank.”
Accordingly, O’Rourke has received more campaign contributions in one quarter than any political candidate in American history. In the 3rd quarter of 2018, the El Paso congressman raised a staggering $38.1 million, bringing his total amount raised to $62 million. Comparatively, Cruz raised $12.4 million, bringing his total to $24.5 million and placing him as the third highest fundraiser of the candidates for Senate, according to The Dallas Morning News.- READ MORE