Senate Candidate Beto O'Rourke To Make East Austin Campaign Stop

EAST AUSTIN, TEXAS — Beto mania is hitting East Austin this week ahead of his Wednesday campaign stop in East Austin.

U.S. Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke, a congressman from El Paso, Texas, hoping to unseat incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz, is scheduled to meet with voters at Mueller Lake Park during early voting on Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 2:15 p.m. Since the start of early voting last week, O'Rourke has met with voters at five polling locations throughout Travis County.

His latest scheduled stop is part of his travels to all 254 counties of Texas and appearance at more than 320 town halls he has held while on the stump. Along the way, O'Rourke has galvanized registered voters — particularly among the younger set — and given Cruz a run for his money in what is now a competitive race for the U.S. Senate.

It's unusual and implausible to have a Democratic candidate for the Senate gain such strides in historically red Texas, which has propelled the race to national interest. The upshot: The Cook Political Report recently moved the Senate race's rating from "Lean Republican" to "Toss Up." Recent polling has also shown a single digit race that is regularly within the margin of error.

Related story: Here's List Of Early Voting Sites Starting Monday, Oct. 22, 2018

"We are days away from achieving something incredible in Texas," O'Rourke wrote in a press advisory ahead of his local stop. "I have no doubt that we are going to deliver for every county, every community, every person who has been written off or taken for granted. Texas is ready to move beyond geography, party, or any other difference that might divide us and finally come together for our state and this country.”

The appearance on Wednesday comes less than a week after the candidate was on the stump in the Austin area on Oct. 24, when he made appearances across Austin at the Fiesta Mart at the 5510 block of the Interstate 35 service road near Stassney Lane; the Carver library branch at 1161 Angelina Street; the ACC Highland Campus at 6101 Airport Blvd.; Anderson Mill Limited District at 11500 El Salido Parkway; and at the Allen R. Baca Senior Center, 301 Bagdad Ave., in Round Rock.

His return to Travis County follows O’Rourke’s announcement that his grassroots campaign raised more than $38 million in the third quarter of 2018. Powered by 802,836 individual contributions and without a dime from PACs, corporations or special interests, his people-powered campaign has just set a new record for the largest fundraising quarter ever in a U.S. Senate race.

O'Rourke fans' ability to see their candidate in the flesh will be assuaged given the recent defacement of a mural painted in his honor earlier this month. The Beto O'Rourke mural in the heart of East Austin — a historically working-class enclave now enduring sweeping gentrification where such artistic paeans to admired figures are commonplace — was defiled with graffiti by anti-O'Rourke forces a mere week after its unveiling, as the Austin American-Statesman and other media outlets reported.

The mural pictures O'Rourke as a Superman-like hero, but with a "B" on his undershirt seen as he unbuttons his dress shirt rather than an "S." Located along an alley between Cesar Chavez and East 2nd streets, just east of Waller Street, the mural has since been restored.

Artist Chris Rogers, the mural's creator, is arguably best known for his vibrant mural at the intersection of 12th and Chicon streets depicting an array of famous black musicians before it was painted over by the building owner last year, a move that sparked community outrage. Such defacement of artistic community focal points are increasingly common in East Austin as a symptom of the gentrification wave that has swept over the sector in earnest for the past decade or so.

After the community ire, Rogers' remake was produced in the same style as the original piece but featuring a wider slate of cultural and societal icons, including the late congresswoman Barbara Jordan and America’s oldest World War II veteran (who happens to live in East Austin) Richard Overton.

To learn more about professional artist Chris Rogers, visit www.chrisrogersartist.com and follow him on Instagram (@chrisrogersart) and Facebook (@chris.rogersartist).

The "Beto for Texas" mural has become something of a centerpiece to promote voter participation, with an emphasis being placed on encouraging constituents to cast their ballots early through Nov. 2, ahead of the Nov. 6 election. "All are welcome - bring friends!" Rogers wrote on Facebook. "And be sure to VOTE EARLY! Rides to the polls from the mural site will be available."

The early voting period runs through Nov. 2. There are two polling sites near the “Beto for Texas” mural that are open to all registered Travis County voters from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily: The Carver Branch Library (1161 Angelina St.) and Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center (2608 Gonzales St.).

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>>> Photo of Beto O'Rourke via Texas Legislature website