Democratic strategist Adam Hodge said on Tuesday that Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) doesn’t need former President Barack Obama’s endorsement in his Senate campaign because the candidate has already established “his own brand” among voters in the state.
Obama this week announced his support for an additional 260 Democratic candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections, and missing from that list was O’Rourke’s name. But Hodge said this may not be such a bad thing.
“Beto [O’Rourke] is not going to be helped by an Obama endorsement in Texas. Quite frankly, he’s got his own brand in Texas,” Hodge, a former Democratic National Committee (DNC) spokesman, told Hill.TV co-hosts Krystal Ball and Ned Ryun on “Rising.”
The Democratic strategist said that O’Rourke’s latest rally in Austin is proof of the congressman’s strong brand and growing popularity in the Lone Star state.
“You see scenes of 50,000 people coming out for him in Texas, he has been to all 254 counties; he doesn’t need Barack Obama…I just don’t think it will necessarily help him,” he told Hill.TV.
These comments come after more than 50,000 people packed Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas, over the weekend for O’Rourke’s Turn Out For Texas rally, which featured a performance by country music legend Willie Nelson.
Though the Democratic candidate has been been gaining momentum over the last few months, he faces a tough battle against incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz in one of the most traditionally Republican states in the country.
Democrats haven’t won a statewide election in Texas since 1994. Republicans, meanwhile, have carried the state in every presidential election since 1976.
The Texas Senate race remains tighter than ever with two of the latest polls showing varying results between the two candidates.
A poll released last week by Quinnipiac University found that the Republican senator holds a 9 point edge over O’Rourke among likely voters, while a recent Ipsos survey puts the congressman from El Paso in the lead by 2 points.
— Tess Bonn
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