Beto O'Rourke closes Texas college tour at UTEP

College students interested in learning more about Beto O'Rourke's surging campaign to become the next governor of Texas say they have "a vested interest in this election."

In a standing room-only event, O'Rourke said replacing Gov. Greg Abbott is critical to eliminating extremist measures championed by the Republican governor.

He said Texas women won Roe v Wade, and “it will be Texas women who will win it back… no pressure.”

O'Rourke closed out his College Tour in his hometown of El Paso Tuesday, speaking at 5:30 p.m. at the University of Texas, El Paso's Natural Gas Conference Center.

Campaign volunteers said the conference center is capacity for the campaign event. Supporters were eager to welcome O'Rourke. He spoke for about 30-minutes, touching on property taxes, the El Paso Aug. 3, 2019 mass shooting, the shooting death of a migrant in Hudspeth County and immigration.

He said Abbott's "open border" and anti-migrant rhetoric has contributed to violence against Hispanics in the Borderland.

"That gunman in Allen, Texas was listening," O'Rourke said. "He had come to repel the invasion of Hispanics in Texas."

Jacob Lopez, 18, a UTEP freshman from El Paso, said he registered to vote this year.

“Beto isn’t afraid to talk about issues like abortion,” Lopez said. “I like his commitment to issues.”

As governor, he wants O’Rourke to focus on immigration.

“Immigration shouldn’t be a political game,” he said. “There are better solutions than busing people to New York.”

UTEP student and El Paso native Dylan Burdick, 20, said he and other young Texans were angered by the overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier this year.

“Abortion is a right and it should be addressed as such,” he said.

“Our generation has a vested interest in this election,” Burdick said. “That’s why this room is packed.”

“Texas is turning more blue and we need a governor that reflects that,” said Alberto Rojas, 19.

UTEP is O'Rourke's 19th appearance on a college campus since Sept. 26.

Leading up to today's voter registration deadline, the El Paso Democrat has focused on registering new voters at Texas campuses. The UTEP rally comes as the O'Rourke campaign releases more encouraging fundraising news, bringing in $25.18 million in the three-month period ending Sept. 29. With less than a month to go before the Nov. 8 election, O'Rourke is hoping he can turn out new voters and attract independents and moderate Republicans to tip the scales in his favor.

After the fundraising news was announced Tuesday, O'Rourke tweeted, "We just outraised Greg Abbott — again. Now we’re going to defeat him. That’s how we overcome his extremism and move Texas forward."

The Abbott campaign did not release exact fundraising totals but in a statement said the candidate brought in "nearly $25 million" in the July to September period.

More:O'Rourke slightly outraised Abbott over summer, but the incumbent has wide overall lead

O'Rourke continues to trail Abbott in the polls by between 5 and 8% points.

Ahead of the event, the El Paso Community College and UTEP chapter of Texas Rising held a voter registration drive at Leech Grove on the UTEP campus. Early in the day, O'Rourke appeared at the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock.

More:Hitting towns in the borderlands, Beto campaign for governor goes beyond immigration

Stream Beto rally at UTEP below

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Beto O'Rourke rallies UTEP students for Texas college tour