Beto O’Rourke plans to challenge Greg Abbott for Texas governor: report

O'Rourke, a former three-term congressman from El Paso, lost his Senate bid against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. He raised a record-breaking $80 million in the senator race that garnered national attention. O'Rourke later failed to obtain the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, but the runs reportedly plugged him into the national network of political fundraising necessary to take on Abbott.

According to Axios, the formal announcement of O'Rourke's candidacy is still pending and is expected to be forthcoming later on in 2021.

O'Rourke has been the progressive champion of many left-wing causes, including to defund or even completely dismantle police departments.

"I really love that Black Lives Matter and other protestors have put this front and center, to defund these line items that have over-militarized our police, and instead invest that money in the human capital of your community," said O'Rourke in a June 2020 conference call.

"... And then also, in some necessary cases, completely dismantling those police forces, and rebuilding them," continued O'Rourke.

A former O'Rourke campaign manager was also caught on video in November 2020 calling for mandatory gun seizures. O'Rourke was also known for statements on the debate floor such as "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47."