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O'Rourke is a forceful advocate for illegal aliens. Conditions on the border can be enhanced, he says, if the United States treated people in border cities with “dignity and respect.” He claims that the border is secure and safe and hence opposes a U.S. military presence to thwart invaders.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/beto-orourke-southern-border-can-be-safer-if-lawmakers-treat-border-communities-with-dignity-and-respect|title=Beto O'Rourke: Southern border can be safer if lawmakers treat border communities with 'dignity and respect'|publisher=''The Washington Examiner''|author=Katelyn Caralle|accessdate=April 6, 2018}}</ref>

O'Rourke is a forceful advocate for illegal aliens. Conditions on the border can be enhanced, he says, if the United States treated people in border cities with “dignity and respect.” He claims that the border is secure and safe and hence opposes a U.S. military presence to thwart invaders.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/beto-orourke-southern-border-can-be-safer-if-lawmakers-treat-border-communities-with-dignity-and-respect|title=Beto O'Rourke: Southern border can be safer if lawmakers treat border communities with 'dignity and respect'|publisher=''The Washington Examiner''|author=Katelyn Caralle|accessdate=April 6, 2018}}</ref>

O'Rourke carries the support of several liberals in the acting profession, such as Connie Britton, a Democrat who played the caring mother and wife on the former [[NBC]] [[television]] series, ''Friday Night Lights''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/Celebrities-who-are-supporting-Beto-O-Rourke-for-12806358.php|title=Celebrities who are supporting Democrat Beto O'Rourke for Senate: Republican incumbent Ted Cruz also has enjoyed some support from the entertainment industry|publisher=''The Houston Chronicle''|date=April 5, 2018|author=Jeremy Wallace|accessdate=April 7, 2018}}</ref> Other celebrities on the O'Rourke team are Sarah Jessica Parker, formerly with the television series ''Sex and the City'', and talk show host [[Rosie O'Donnell]], a long-term critic of President Trump.<ref name=feastorfamine>Gilbert Garcia, "For O'Rourke, November means feast or famine" (commentary), ''The San Antonio Express-News'', May 13, 2018, p. A2.</ref>

O'Rourke carries the support of several liberals in the acting profession, such as Connie Britton, a Democrat who played the caring mother and wife on the former [[NBC]] [[television]] series, ''Friday Night Lights.''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/Celebrities-who-are-supporting-Beto-O-Rourke-for-12806358.php|title=Celebrities who are supporting Democrat Beto O'Rourke for Senate: Republican incumbent Ted Cruz also has enjoyed some support from the entertainment industry|publisher=''The Houston Chronicle''|date=April 5, 2018|author=Jeremy Wallace|accessdate=April 7, 2018}}</ref> Other celebrities on the O'Rourke team are Sarah Jessica Parker, formerly with the television series ''Sex and the City'', and talk show host [[Rosie O'Donnell]], a long-term critic of President Trump who fled to [[Ireland]] after Trump's successful bid for a second term in 2024.<ref name=feastorfamine>Gilbert Garcia, "For O'Rourke, November means feast or famine" (commentary), ''The San Antonio Express-News'', May 13, 2018, p. A2.</ref>

In April 2018, O'Rourke addressed a gathering of five hundred at [[Texas Tech University]] in the usually Republican city of [[Lubbock]]. In his speech, he denounced what he called Republican "paranoia, the fear, the divisiveness, the smallness that distinguishes that kind of thinking and leadership." Instead, O'Rourke vowed to promote "confidence and a courage and a strength and a kindness and a big heart that can only come from Texas."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20180408/orourke-town-halls-attracts-500-plus-at-texas-tech|title=O'Rourke town hall attracts 500-plus at Texas Tech|publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|accessdate=April 8, 2018}}</ref> At that same meeting, O'Rourke said that he had seen enough evidence to warrant the [[impeachment]] of President Trump. A few days later at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, O'Rourke denied that he is pre-committed to impeachment: "I never brought this issue up." O'Rourke described impeachment as "perhaps the most serious and solemn responsibility" for members of Congress and "not something we should trifle with or campaign on."<ref>Gilbert Garcia, "Promises to impeach Trump send wrong message for Democrats" (commentary), ''The San Antonio Express-News'', April 29, 2018, pp. 1, A2.</ref> Ultimately Cruz won Lubbock County, 58,709 (64.2 percent) to O'Rourke's 31,976 (35 percent).

In April 2018, O'Rourke addressed a gathering of five hundred at [[Texas Tech University]] in the usually Republican city of [[Lubbock]]. In his speech, he denounced what he called Republican "paranoia, the fear, the divisiveness, the smallness that distinguishes that kind of thinking and leadership." Instead, O'Rourke vowed to promote "confidence and a courage and a strength and a kindness and a big heart that can only come from Texas."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20180408/orourke-town-halls-attracts-500-plus-at-texas-tech|title=O'Rourke town hall attracts 500-plus at Texas Tech|publisher=''The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal''|accessdate=April 8, 2018}}</ref> At that same meeting, O'Rourke said that he had seen enough evidence to warrant the [[impeachment]] of President Trump. A few days later at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, O'Rourke denied that he is pre-committed to impeachment: "I never brought this issue up." O'Rourke described impeachment as "perhaps the most serious and solemn responsibility" for members of Congress and "not something we should trifle with or campaign on."<ref>Gilbert Garcia, "Promises to impeach Trump send wrong message for Democrats" (commentary), ''The San Antonio Express-News'', April 29, 2018, pp. 1, A2.</ref> Ultimately Cruz won Lubbock County, 58,709 (64.2 percent) to O'Rourke's 31,976 (35 percent).

Having waged a vigorous campaign with huge funding assets, he came within 220,000 votes of unseating the incumbent [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Ted Cruz]] in the November 6  [[general election]]. Cruz finished with 4,240,942 votes (50.9 percent) to O'Rourke's 4,017,851 (48.3 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://enrpages.sos.state.tx.us/public/nov06_331_state.htm?x=0&y=0&id=545|title=Election Returns|date=November 6, 2018|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|accessdate=}}</ref>

Having waged a vigorous campaign with huge funding assets, he came within 220,000 votes of unseating the incumbent [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Ted Cruz]] in the November 6  [[general election]]. Cruz finished with 4,240,942 votes (50.9 percent) to O'Rourke's 4,017,851 (48.3 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://enrpages.sos.state.tx.us/public/nov06_331_state.htm?x=0&y=0&id=545|title=Election Returns|date=November 6, 2018|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|accessdate=}}</ref>

Gilbert Garcia, the San Antonio journalist, notes that O'Rourke would immediately become mentioned as a future presidential possibility if he had succeeded in upsetting Cruz. "With his Kennedy-esque looks and defiantly idealistic exuberance, he has that rare ability to inspire voters" while establishment politicians make voting a dull civic exercise not much different from "eating your [[broccoli]]".<ref name=feastorfamine/> Yet even in defeat, O'Rourke remains one of the leading candidates for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Gilbert Garcia, the San Antonio journalist, notes that O'Rourke would immediately become mentioned as a future presidential possibility if he had succeeded in upsetting Cruz. "With his Kennedy-esque looks and defiantly idealistic exuberance, he has that rare ability to inspire voters" while establishment politicians make voting a dull civic exercise not much different from "eating your [[broccoli]]".<ref name=feastorfamine/> Yet even in defeat for the Senate, O'Rourke was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

===2022 Texas Gubernatorial Election===

===2022 Texas Gubernatorial Election===