Texas Has Spoken - New York Better Prepare for More Migrants
Beto O’Rourke is going back to his skateboarding. Again. And New York had better prepare for more migrants.
For the third time in four years, O’Rourke failed at a challenge for higher office, this time in Texas’ governor’s race. Fox News called the race shortly after 8 p.m. local time, with The Associated Press following about two hours later.
With 95 percent of the vote counted, according to The New York Times, Abbott led Beto by 54.9 percent of the vote to 43.8 percent of the vote.
While O’Rourke, the Democratic nominee, was leading in the big cities and along the border, most of the rest of the state went to Greg Abbott, a two-term Republican who’s made gun rights and border security key agenda items.
#BREAKING_NEWS @FoxNews projects Gov. Abbott winner of gubernatorial race. Crowd at his watch party in McAllen cheer as they see the results on tv screen. Still no sign of Abbott. Update on @FOX4 at 9pm pic.twitter.com/kDRl9opJtY
— Alex Boyér (@AlexBoyerFox4) November 9, 2022
Abbott made national headlines by sending groups of illegal immigrants that have been flooding his state during the border crisis north to cities like New York and Washington, D.C., via a state security program called Operation Lone Star.
Despite making no efforts to amend Gotham’s sanctuary city status, New York City Mayor Eric Adams called Abbott and other governors sending immigrants north “cowards” for “send[ing] people away who are looking for help.” Presumably because NYC was so willing to help, right?
Abbott doubled down on the plan in August, saying the buses and flights to New York and Washington were “providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities.”
“Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden’s open border policies,” he said in August, adding that the effort “continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border.”
O’Rourke — who jumped to national prominence after narrowly missing a well-funded upset of GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 — ran on public education spending and gun control.
The former Texas representative had thrown his hat in the 2020 presidential race after his narrow defeat in the 2018 Senate contest. Despite early traction, Beto quickly faded and suspended his candidacy in November of 2019.
Instead, Beto became better known for a series of gaffes on gun control that would come to define his gubernatorial challenge three years hence. “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” he said on a debate stage in September of 2019.
FLASHBACK : Beto O’Rourke: ‘Hell, yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47’ pic.twitter.com/6c53tRXaon
— Mike (@fuctmind) February 10, 2022
That played well to a simpatico Democratic debate audience, but it was less popular among Texas voters. O’Rourke tried to redefine his stance on the issue, saying in February he wasn’t “interested in taking anything from anyone.”
He later told a group of voters that he didn’t think “people who have [AR-15 and AK-47s] in civilian use should be able to keep them.”
Beto O’Rourke on guns:
Sept 2019: “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.”
Feb. 2022: “I’m not interested in taking anything from anyone.”
Today: “People who have [AR-15 and AK-47s] should not be able to keep them.” pic.twitter.com/IqRTUAr8jy
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 31, 2022
As of October, O’Rourke had raised $66 million for his gubernatorial bid, according to the Houston Chronicle. This is after raising $80 million for his unsuccessful 2018 challenge to unseat Cruz.
I don’t even feel like looking up how much money he raised to run for president in 2020.
Beto’s only talent as a politician is doing this to ActBlue money👇 pic.twitter.com/tPJnUE31l5
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 9, 2022
His presidential campaign tallied another $18 million, according to Federal Election Commission receipts, bringing the final total of money squandered over a four-year period by Beto to $164 million.
Still, O’Rourke remained the candidate most Democrats thought was likely to turn the state blue — but, it’s clear from vote tallies on Tuesday night that he was likely to come in about 10 points behind Abbott, give or take. This was roughly in line with the RealClearPolitics polling average, which had him down by 10.4 points.
Beto’s next opportunity to squander some ActBlue small-donor money on higher office comes in 2024, when Cruz’s senate seat is back up for grabs. Or, he could [snicker] run for president again.
At least for the next four years, however, New York City should expect to do its part in absorbing illegal immigrants allowed to enter the United States by President Joe Biden’s failed border policies — all thanks to a solid Greg Abbott win.
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