Beto O'Rourke Is Making His Last Stand in Texas.

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The former congressman and Democratic sensation is still trying to prove he can win statewide in his home state.

AUSTIN, Texas — In a cavernous, modern sanctuary at Greater Mt. Zion Church, the Rev. Gaylon Clark introduced Beto O’Rourke to his congregation one recent Sunday as “the next governor of the state of Texas.” Then he raised his hand and, over the strains of a keyboard, prayed for “victory in the name of Jesus.”

In the sanctuary, the churchgoers said, “Amen.” In the lobby, they lined up for pictures with the one-time Democratic sensation now lagging in the polls.

“With God and faith and him being here today,” one of the congregants told me, “you should see a change in his numbers by next week.” Another suspected polls were missing voters who are tired of the state’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, but reluctant to acknowledge voting for a Democrat — the kind of “shy” voter theory once applied by some observers to Donald Trump. A woman said she could see people “waking up” in Texas, while her 7-year-old daughter, who O’Rourke bent low to speak with, told me O’Rourke addressed not only her concerns about school, but also the protection of ocelots.

It was the kind of gusher of hopefulness that O’Rourke — at his boisterous rallies, in his prolific, small-dollar fundraising, trucking across Texas — has met with ever since he burst into the national consciousness in his U.S. Senate run in 2018 and continued to inspire among Democrats in the early stages of his presidential campaign two years later.'>>>

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/10/05/beto-orourke-texas-governor-election-00060060?