Left-Leaning Pollster Shows Beto O’Rourke Down Nearly 20 Percent in Texas Gubernatorial Race – Opinion

Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rouke (D-Texas) is trailing Republican Gov. A new poll by the Democrat-supportive Blueprint Survey/Chism Strategies shows Greg Abbott at 18.3 percent.

In the survey of 603 Texas voters, 55.5 percent said they were “definitely” or “leaning toward” Abbott, compared with just 37.2 percent saying the same for O’Rourke, who formerly represented the El Paso area in the U.S. House.

Seven percent are unsure, and there is a 15.6 percent gap between those “definitely” voting for either candidate. This poll is within a 3.99 percent error margin.

NEW: @ChismStrat/@blueprintpoll (D)

2022 #TXGov General Election
(R)* Greg Abbott 56% (+19)
(D) Beto O’Rourke 37%

6-7-8/10| 6/8-6/10
LV Sample: D35/I20/R45https://t.co/CEcKKGJj0y

— PPUSA (@PollProjectUSA) June 13, 2022

Real Clear Politics has given Abbott a 6.7% lead in the polling, but it doesn’t include this survey.

Beyond the polls, O’Rourke is likely still working on overcoming a large money gap between him and his opponent.

As of February, Abbott is in a much better campaign finance position than the former presidential and senatorial candidate, as the incumbent had $62.6 million, which dwarfed O’Rourke’s $6 million, The Texas Tribune reported at the time.

After interrupting a Abbott-related press conference, the Democrat attracted national attention. We will see what the money of the next report.

Regardless, these polling numbers are terrible for O’Rourke no matter how you slice it. These polling numbers, which come from an independent pollster who supports his party’s candidate, are a sign of O’Rourke’s uphill struggle and a likely fate this November.

Democrats have been pushing Texas to become blue through a state-wide victory since years. However, they continue to fail in this pursuit. O’Rourke quickly became popular among the party, despite narrowly losing to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2018. O’Rourke felt the need to run for president in 2020, even though the race was so competitive.

Although he might believe that third chance is the best way to save his career in politics, it could come off as embarrassing. O’Rourke has a not-so-tough choice to make if he loses in November: retire from perpetual campaigning or continue to be a perennial candidate.

Sure, he’s only 49 years old, but age is not the only factor in determining whether or not it’s time to pass the torch. The political environment is different than it was in 2018, as there’s much more likely to be a red wave than a blue one. Unfortunately for O’Rouke, he’ll learn that the hard way.