Harris to make hard Texas push, recruits key O’Rourke aide: report

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is traveling to campaign in Texas this week, making an aggressive move into the Lone Star State soon after former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) announced his 2020 run, Politico reported on Thursday.

Harris will meet Friday with Tarrant County Democrats and then hold a rally at Texas Southern University in Houston on Saturday, according to Politico.

Harris has also reached out to several Texas Democrats who are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, Al Green and Colin Allred.

Texas will hold its primary on March 3, the same day as California, Harris’s home state. 

“There is no state in America we will cede to anyone,” a senior campaign official told the publication. “We see a lot of opportunity to deepen support with African American and Latino communities and to expand into suburban areas where Democrats are resurgent.”

Harris has also hired Shelby Cole, the top digital aide of O’Rourke’s 2018 Senate campaign, as digital fundraising director, according to Politico.

O’Rourke came close to defeating Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in last year’s Senate race, thanks in part to a big social media push.

Harris’s campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment from The Hill.

O’Rourke is now one of two Texas candidates in the race for the Democratic nomination, along with former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. 

Several other Harris hires also have deep Texas ties, including her communications director, Lily Adams, the granddaughter of former Gov. Ann Richards (D), and her online organizing director, Jose Nunez, a San Antonio native who has worked for former Texas Rep. Leticia Van de Putte (D).

Harris fundraised off of O’Rourke’s March 14 campaign announcement, calling the number of entrants into the race “greatly encouraging for the future of our country.”