Unfortunately for Democrat Beto O'Rourke, it's the same headline for the third time in five years- another campaign loss.
In 2018, Beto was a little-known congressman from El Paso when he took on Ted Cruz for a position in the Texas Senate. He surprised many by getting to within 3 percent of his Republican opponent, the closest any Democrat has come. Then, believing he had some momentum, Beto ran for the Democrat Presidential nomination in 2020 but bowed out on November 2019.
We can now add the Texas Governor race he lost to incumbent Greg Abbott to those two losses. This is despite some record-breaking fundraising that saw over $76 million in campaign contributions.
Beto has been campaigning for 1,175 of the past 2,048 days- more than three of the last five calendar years campaigning for office. And with another loss, this could mean the end of Beto O'Rourke's political career.
“With each new race he loses it becomes more difficult to convince voters and persuade them that he can still win the next race. That’s a very difficult barrier to overcome for a third-time loser.” Sharon Navarro, a political scientist at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
There is some hope for Beto, however. He can aim to emulate former President George H.W Bush.
Bush was smashed in his U.S. Senate challenge to Democrat Ralph Yarborough in 1964 by 12 percentage points. He also lost the Republican presidential primary to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Nevertheless, he overcame those crushing defeats to win the presidency in 1988.
It will be interesting to see what Beto's next move is.
Your thoughts
Were you rooting for a Beto victory, or are you glad he lost? Did you think Beto should make another run for public office? Or is three losses enough? What would you advise Beto to do next?
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