Jason,
I am excited to share the news that Beto has officially announced that he is running for Governor. It wasn't an easy decision. Honestly, we have loved being together in El Paso for the better part of two years, and there was a part of me that was very hesitant to give that up.
But over the course of this last year, we have been reminded time and time again that, whether it was the failure to keep the lights and heat on during the winter storm, or the extreme vigilante legislation that strips a woman's control over her own body, it's critical that we have new leadership in Texas. All of us need to do everything in our power to change the dangerous and divisive direction that our state is heading in.
I hope you will join us in whatever way you can, whether it's sharing the news with friends and family, chipping in to help fund this campaign, and/or signing up to volunteer. The people of Texas have inspired us from the start, and I have no doubt that they will step up in the most amazing, unprecedented ways.
We're in this race because we believe it's the best way for us to do our part. Beto is hitting the road today, and I hope to join him soon. We can't wait to see you out there!
—Amy O'Rourke
----Forwarded message----
Date: November 15, 2021
Sender: Beto O'Rourke
Subject line: I'm running
Jason,
I am running for governor to serve ALL of the people of Texas.
I believe that the only way we are going to achieve great things for this state is by looking out for each other and moving forward together.
Donate now to support my campaign »
Whether it was building a successful technology business in my hometown or working with my fellow El Pasoans on the City Council or passing legislation in a divided Congress to improve mental healthcare for veterans, these experiences have taught me that we are most successful when we keep the focus on people.
When we listen to and learn from each other — regardless of our differences — we build trust, and that trust allows us to do together what none of us could do on our own.
The fringe policies and incompetence that we see in Texas today — on masks, on abortion, on guns, on schools, on the electricity grid — are symptoms of a larger problem. Our leaders have stopped listening to the people they were elected to serve. They don't trust Texans and so they aren't able to move forward on what the people of Texas want, like better jobs and safe communities.
Instead, they're focused on the agendas of their donors, on positioning themselves for the next election, on catering to the loudest voices in their party and on keeping themselves in power regardless of the cost to the rest of us.
It's a small vision for such a big state. And it's hurting the people of Texas.
We could be leading the world in creating the next generation of energy jobs instead of praying the electricity grid won't collapse again this winter.
We could expand Medicaid and ensure that every one of us is healthy enough to pursue our education and career instead of leading the nation in the number of people unable to see a doctor.
We could follow the guidance from our own world-class scientists and healthcare professionals to protect vulnerable Texans instead of allowing politics to determine our response to the pandemic. More than 70,000 Texans have died of Covid on this Governor's watch.
We are losing the big, bold vision that used to define Texas, a Texas big enough for all of us. Big enough for our dreams and big enough to make them happen. We've been offered something small, mean and uninspiring in its place.
But it doesn't have to be this way.
We can do better.
When I ran for Senate in 2018, I traveled to every county of Texas. I met a lot of people, and had the chance to listen to and learn from them. How they lived, what they cared about, what kept them up at night, what they dreamed for their kids and grandkids. It turns out that in most communities, people have thought through the solutions to the challenges before them. They don't need someone to tell them what's best for them, they just need someone to listen and then take action.
Something else I picked up, and it's stayed with me ever since, is that it's impossible to write someone off, to take them for granted, to forget them once you've had the chance to meet them and understand where they're coming from. I've got a strong hunch that if we took the time to listen more and learn from each other, there's a whole lot more we could get done, in our lives, in our communities, and in our state.
I didn't win that race, or the next one (not even close). But I stayed with it, kept working to help the people I'd met, the communities I'd been to. In the face of so much that could cause despair — like the unprecedented attack on voting rights or the failure of the electricity grid — I found hope and purpose in the people with whom I volunteered for the last two years in an organization called Powered by People.
We worked to bring people into our elections and the political process. Together we helped register more than 250,000 new voters. We organized our fellow Texans to defend our democracy in the halls of the state capitol when free and fair elections were under attack. And then we went beyond the capitol to counties like Rains and Midland, Harris and Dallas, Bowie and Jefferson, bringing as many people of this state into the conversation as we could — Republicans and Democrats alike — to listen to each other and try to find common ground on the right to vote.
And when the lights went out, the heater wouldn't turn on and the water stopped running for millions of Texans in February, together we organized thousands of volunteers to make over a million phone calls to stranded Texas seniors — connecting them with food, water, warmth and the knowledge that another human being cared about them and wanted to make sure they were OK.
Our volunteers raised over a million dollars to help those whose homes had been damaged in the disaster. Their governor might fail them, but the people of Texas wouldn't.
That's what happens when people are moved to come together to help their neighbors and fellow Texans. Imagine if we had a governor who felt the same way.
It's up to us to make it happen.
And get back to being big again.
I look forward to working with you for ALL of Texas,
Beto
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