AUSTIN, Texas - The race for Texas governor is on 11 months before Election Day 2022. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke rallied supporters in Downtown Austin Saturday night at Republic Square Park.
O'Rourke is hoping to gain votes from the people in the city he could soon call home.
“We are going to trust Texas. That is how we’re going to serve the people of Texas," O'Rourke said.
A large crowd of voters came out to support him. Supporters told CBS Austin they're ready to see a change under the pink dome.
"He has proven who he is in this last year and a half," Supporter, Patt Lynn said. “I think honesty is the greatest asset that man brings. I probably don’t agree with everything he’s ever said, but I want an honest politician."
“He’s honest. We’ve had so much lying, lying, and lying that it’s become normalized. It’s OK to lie and I think that he’ll change that,” Supporter, Dwight Romanovicz said.
O'Rourke told the crowd that he'll focus on better jobs, public schools, and expanding Medicaid so people can easily see a doctor.
“We’ve lost more than 74,000 of our family, our friends, and our neighbors because of our inability to respond to COVID in a timely fashion," he said.
He also took aim at several policies put in place by Governor Greg Abbott like signing the voting bill and the abortion ban into law. O'Rourke said that if elected abortion would be legal so that women can make their own decisions. O'Rourke also said he would legalize marijuana in Texas and criticized Abbott's response to the deadly February winter storm.
“We have literally weathered a power grid shut down that knocked the lights out for millions that cost 700 Texans their very lives,” O'Rourke said.
The former congressman said he's running a campaign to unite and bring Texans together.
“This is not a red state and it’s certainly not a blue state. It is currently a non-voting state, and this campaign is all about connecting with the volunteers who are going to get more people to vote,” he said.
The campaign was focused on getting more people registered to vote at the event.
Those in opposition of O'Rourke were in attendance. Texans for Greg Abbott had a mobile billboard circling the park.The billboard had a picture of O'Rourke that said, "wrong for Texas." Another image was displayed of President Joe Biden that read, "wrong for America."
Communication Director for the campaign Mark Miner told CBS Austin over the phone, "O'Rourke's platform is more in touch with President Joe Biden, not the people of Texas."
CBS Austin asked O'Rourke to respond to that comment and he said there's only one candidate in the governor's race that has been to each one of the 254 counties in Texas.
“This is not about Democrats. It’s not about Republicans. It’s not even about Greg Abbott, It’s about the future of this state," O'Rourke said.
The latest UT Austin – Texas Tribune poll shows that Governor Abbott is leading O’Rourke by seven points.