Democrat gubernatorial candidate Robert “Beto” O’Rourke is set to physically return to the campaign trail after being sidelined due to a bacterial infection.
In a tweet from O’Rourke’s official account, the candidate wrote, “Laredo! We’re looking forward to seeing you on Friday evening at Firefighters Union Hall 872.”
Laredo! We're looking forward to seeing you on Friday evening at Firefighters Union Hall 872.
Join us at 6:00 for music (IconicZZ), food, and a great night of organizing together. RSVP here: https://t.co/qHtXgtm7hh pic.twitter.com/N5wLZBbYHh
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) August 31, 2022
The September 2 event will be his first in-person meeting since falling ill.
On August 28, O’Rourke told his supporters that he had been “diagnosed with a bacterial infection” and would “be resting at home in El Paso in accordance with the doctors’ recommendations,” as reported by The Dallas Express.
Although details concerning his ailment were not disclosed, he was treated at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio with intravenous antibiotics.
The return to the campaign trail is an essential step for O’Rourke as he likely needs to make up considerable ground to prove himself a more serious challenge to Gov. Greg Abbot’s incumbency.
Texas-based polls have incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott leading O’Rourke by anywhere between seven and nine points. Furthermore, pollster aggregate FiveThirtyEight puts the odds of Abbott prevailing at roughly 95%.
If O’Rourke were to win, however, he would be the first Democrat elected to statewide office in Texas since 1994.
O’Rourke’s campaign platform includes stances like support for anti-gun policies, support for women’s access to abortion, and calling for increased taxpayer funding for public schools.
Recently the two candidates sparred over education reforms in North Texas, as The Dallas Express covered at the time.
Unlike O’Rourke, Abbott expressed his desire to expand parental choice in education by instituting a voucher system scheme that would allow taxpayer dollars to follow students to non-public school alternatives like charters and private schools.
As reported in The Dallas Express, Nexstar Media Group will be hosting the only Texas gubernatorial debate on September 30. It will be held at the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley Edinburg campus. KXAN Austin’s Britt Moreno is slated to moderate.
Beto is a loser. He’s wasting his time and donors are wasting their money.
Read his story about running over kids. If they had red flag laws in place when he wrote it, I wonder if he would be in office today?