Failed TX candidate Beto O’Rourke visits NM to promote book
Former El Paso-area U.S. Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke, a failed candidate for Texas governor and U.S. Senate, visited Las Cruces on Friday to promote his new book and complain about “democracy” not working.
During the event, O’Rourke discussed the themes of his book, “We’ve Got to Try: How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible.” The book explores what he claims to be the link between voting rights and the broader spectrum of societal improvements.
“I wrote this book to understand why our democracy and the right to vote is under such serious attack and what we can do to prevail in what I believe to be the fight of our lives,” O’Rourke said.
He added, “In the research and writing, I discovered truly inspiring stories of people who’ve been in this fight before, people like Lawrence Nixon, a Black doctor who lived in El Paso and spent 20 years of his life fighting and ultimately defeating the ‘white primary’ in Texas and laying the groundwork for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Not only can we overcome the challenges in front of us, we’ve overcome them before against much greater odds.”
The public gathering took place at the ASNMSU Center for the Arts, situated at the intersection of University Avenue and Espina Street.
O’Rourke has been a fervent opponent of gun rights and supporter of extreme abortion up-to-birth, among other radical policies.