O’Rourke calls Abbott ‘corruption,’ ‘chaos’ at start of Texas gubernatorial trek

Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke kicked off his “Drive for Texas” campaign on Tuesday night by slamming current Gov. Greg Abbott (R), accusing the incumbent of being “corruption” and “chaos.”  

The rally in El Paso kicked off the 49-day campaign where O’Rourke will travel 5,600 miles across the state to galvanize support in a bid for the governor’s mansion.

The candidate spoke on multiple issues including the Texas power grid, education, abortion and gun rights. 

In his speech to a group of supporters, he criticized Abbott for going to a fundraising event on the night of the Uvalde shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers. 

“The most important man and the most powerful man in the state of Texas had the audacity to go to Uvalde the day after that shooting. He could have gone there the night of it but instead he drove 300 miles in the opposite direction to attend a fundraiser,” O’Rourke said. 

During the rally Tuesday, O’Rourke called Abbott corrupt and cruel for his policies regarding the Texas power grid. 

“Just that story, what has happened to the grid under Greg Abbott’s watch, says everything that you need to know about this guy,” O’Rourke said. “He is chaos, he is corruption, he is cruelty and he is incompetence, and it doesn’t stop there.”

Texas is currently enduring a heat wave and residents have been told to try to conserve energy following a cold snap in 2021 that left dozens dead when the power grid failed. 

O’Rourke’s campaign will continue on to Pecos and Midland on Wednesday, and Snyder and Lubbock on Thursday. 

A recent poll from the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs showed Abbott was beating O’Rourke by 5 points among those surveyed. 

O’Rourke won the Texas Democratic primary in March and is set to face off against Abbott for the governor’s mansion in November.

O’Rourke’s campaign comes after his failed presidential run in 2020 and failed Senate run against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.