Beto O'Rourke opens 2024 Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso: 'This moment is ours'

EL PASO — Walking onto the stage to a thunderous standing ovation at the Democratic Party Convention in El Paso, former U.S. presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke encouraged Texans to stand up for democracy and progressive values.

"This moment is ours. We cannot be found wanting. We must meet this moment," O'Rourke, a fourth-generation Texan who represented Texas' Congressional District 16, including El Paso, from 2013 to 2019, said Thursday as the final speaker of the convention's opening day.

He recalled his 2018 campaign against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, when he fell short by roughly 215,000 votes to unseat the incumbent, as well as his trip to the state's 254 counties as part of his campaign. He remembered a train station in Cook County where, in 1943, an entire division of Texas men and boys came to start their training for World War II.

Eventually, they stormed the beaches of Normandy, he said as the world marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday.

"And what were they fighting for? To stop fascism across the sea and protect Democracy here at home," O'Rourke said.

While President Joe Biden is off commemorating that sacrifice, he said, Trump "wants to bring Germanic fascism to this country."

More: What's in store for the 2024 Texas Democratic Party Convention in El Paso this week?

O'Rourke, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, recalled other Texans throughout history and their effect on the nation, including the woman who fought at the U.S. Supreme Court against a Texas law banning abortions, ultimately leading to the high court's landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that for nearly 50 years guaranteed a right to terminate a pregnancy.

The Supreme Court in 2022 reversed Roe v. Wade and Texas later that year banned all abortions except in cases when a pregnant patient's life is at risk or the patient could suffer substantial impairment of a major bodily function.

"No one came from outside of Texas to rescue Texas women," O'Rourke said, "it was Texas women who rescued the rest of the country, and it will be Texas women that rescue this country again."

'America needs all of us'

The Democratic Party Convention, which is being held at the El Paso Convention Center and wraps up Saturday, also featured on its opening day former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona, and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar and state Sen. Cesar Blanco both of El Paso.

Giffords, a gun control activist who walked on a cane to the stage, urged Texas Democrats to keep fighting for progressive causes amid the uncertainly of national politics.

In recalling her own journey of recovery after a right-wing gunman shot her in the head in an assassination attempt in January 2011 during a constituent meeting in Arizona, she related that experience to what Democrats are facing now.

"I've known the darkest of days," she said. "Days of pain and uncertain recovery. ... I put one foot in front of another. I found one word and then another."

"America needs all of us to speak out, even when you have to fight to find the words," she said.

'Deep sense of excitement'

Escobar and Blanco, who are co-chairing the convention, got the Texas Democrats fired up Thursday, with Escobar, energized, rising to the state with a shout and calling on the crowd to follow suit.

"We need your energy, we need your commitment, we need your hard work because, Democrats, this is the most important election of our lifetime," she said, battling to be heard over the raucous audience.

"We need you to take all of the energy that you are bringing to this great party, and after we have done all of our celebrating, all of our working, all of our unities, we've got to get to work knocking on doors, registering voters ... and make sure every Democrat gets to the ballot box in November so we can win," she said.

After an impassioned "Bienvenido," Blanco took stock of the crowd.

"I can't help but feel a deep sense of excitement here in El Paso," he said. "This room is filled with a lot of leaders. This room is filled with a lot of change-makers. It's filled with a lot of people who are talking while there's a presentation going on."

The lighthearted criticism did little to silence the still-roaring crowd, which had been loud throughout the opening day, muffling earlier remarks by El Paso Democratic Party Chairman Michael Apodaca and Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa. Still, Blanco continued and called on Democrats to turn that excitement into action.

"We need to believe in a brighter, more inclusive future for all of Texas," he said. "And we've got to do so especially during a time when our nation is divided."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Beto O'Rourke, Gabby Giffords headline Texas Democratic Convention