Politico Releases Its List of Most Competitive Governor’s Races, Noticeably One State Is Absent – Opinion

The midterm elections are right around the corner, and that means that there is a number of governor’s races gearing up. The top seats of states are on the line, and it’s likely that things are going to get desperate, especially on the left.

Politico took stock of what’s going on just a year out and compiled a list of what they think is going to be the most competitive. The states included are Georgia, Arizona and Michigan. There is also Nevada. To be sure, many of these states aren’t just going to see competitive races, but contentious ones.

Stacy Abrams has announced that she’s making a play for the governor’s seat in Georgia, and as one of the most divisive figures in the country yet one of the most beloved by the left, you can bet things are going to get heated. In Pennsylvania, it sounds as if the fight won’t just between Democrats and Republicans, but Republicans and Republicans as a whole host of people have stepped forward to run for the office.

Unbelievably, despite the big names on the left declaring his candidacy, there is no state.

Texas is not represented.

This means that after analyzing the situation, at this juncture, Politico does not see Democrat challenger Beto O’Rourke as a threat to incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. O’Rourke announced his candidacy mid-November and while this initially generated some buzz, that buzz died off as quickly as it arose.

There may be many reasons. O’Rourke just announced and is still getting his burgeoning campaign’s feet under it. There hasn’t been any real advertising yet and fundraising prowess hasn’t been seen, at least for this attempt at office.

It could also be that Democrats have seen this song and dance with O’Rourke as their partner before. He’s not exactly known for winning, even with tremendous support and fund behind him. He seems like an empty suit that will say whatever he needs to say to make you like him and positions aren’t honestly come by. As a Texas senatorial candidate, O’Rourke seemed to have a bit more of a moderate leftism to him, but on the national stage he went to AOC-level extremes to try to attract voters. How he’s going to come back to Texas after that showing and run for the highest office in the land is a head scratcher.

This is especially true since Texas has been one of the state’s hardest hit by the illegal immigration crisis, an issue O’Rourke has previously taken some very leftist stances over.

(READ: Stop Trying to Make Beto O’Rourke Happen)

As it stands, Texas hasn’t gone as blue as Democrats would like. In fact, Democrats seem to be losing more and more ground within the state as time goes on.

Again, there’s still a lot of time on the board. I’d say there’s a lot of football left to play, but the game hasn’t even technically started yet. Still, we’ve seen the pieces begin arranging themselves on their respective boards and while many states are about to go into all out political war, people seem to not be too excited about what’s going to happen in Texas.

It’s as if they already know the ending to this story, and not because Texas is so red, but because O’Rourke has always been a losing bet.