Beto O'Rourke says he'll visit every county in Texas, again

Beto O'Rourke, Democratic nominee for governor of Texas, yesterday announced a 49-day tour of the state that will include 70 appearances in 65 counties--including rural ones.  Recall that O'Rourke visited each of the state's 254 counties when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2018.  According to this story by Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune.   

O’Rourke is expected to hit all the major cities of the state but also some of the tiniest towns, like Marathon in far West Texas and Spearman in the Panhandle. There will also be more than a dozen stops in South Texas, a region where Abbott and other Republicans are working to make new inroads.

It remains to be seen how much campaigning Abbott will do at the same time. He kept a busy schedule ahead of the March primary but has not held many campaign events since then.

Last month, his campaign announced plans to spend an initial sum of nearly $20 million on advertising, flexing his large financial advantage over O’Rourke.

When O’Rourke ran for U.S. Senate in 2018, he visited all 254 counties in the state. He has said he plans to do that again in this race. 

While it is unclear how many counties he has checked off so far, he is expected to take a significant step forward with the upcoming trip. His campaign said he will hold public events in 38 counties where he has not yet held public events as a gubernatorial candidate.