Dear John,
I’m writing to you from our kitchen counter after a wonderful run around
the UTEP campus with Artemis this morning, taking in a beautiful view of
Ciudad Juárez and downtown El Paso from behind the Sun Bowl. It’s overcast
but last night’s rain washed away some of the haze that had been hanging
over our community the last few days. You can now see for miles.
I drove in last night from San Angelo, about 6 hours mostly on highway 67
and I-10, with intermittent cell coverage and plenty of time to think
about the first days of this campaign.
I left El Paso a week ago Monday, the truck packed and gassed and the full
state before us.
We first stopped in Fort Stockton to meet with the County Judge and local
health care providers to listen to their proposals on addressing medically
underserved communities. They suggested that expanding Medicaid — at a
time that the federal government will pay the lion’s share of the cost —
would do a world of good in attracting and retaining providers to Pecos
County and that it would also help lower the homeowner’s property tax
burden as local taxpayers no longer have to foot the bill for
uncompensated care. Judge Shuster said that the reason he was meeting with
me, in a county that voted for Trump with 69% of the vote in 2020, was
because I was willing to show up and listen to him and the people he
served. He needs a Governor that will partner with him and his community.
[ [link removed] ]Beto speaks with Judge Shuster in Pecos County
Pecos County Judge Joe Shuster
That really was the theme of so many of our conversations over the
following week. The frontline workers and labor leaders that we met with
in San Antonio the next day, for example, are looking for a partner who
will help create good paying jobs and look out for workers.
In Laredo, we gathered in the midst of a bowling tournament at Jet Bowl,
and celebrated the success of the hardworking volunteers who’ve registered
thousands of new voters since 2020 and listened to the deep pride with
which people spoke about their hometown. Laredo has so much to offer this
state, in terms of trade, jobs, culture and opportunity, and I was
grateful to have the chance to be with the people who make it happen.
[ [link removed] ]Beto with supporters in Laredo
Laredo
In McAllen, Mission, Mercedes and Brownsville we talked about the
importance of schools with educators and local leaders who’ve produced
some extraordinary results, including the #1 most resilient school in the
state of Texas (in the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD); we heard from the
Brownsville’s mayor about the innovative approach that they are taking to
broadband internet (building out the complete middle mile) and the ways in
which they are protecting themselves from an unstable power grid (like
building out a renewable-powered microgrid at the airport).
[ [link removed] ]Beto in McAllen
McAllen
Friends and supporters met us in Corpus Christi and Portland, not only
signing up for volunteer shifts to reach voters in Nueces and San Patricio
counties, but sharing with us the amazing opportunity for the region to be
a global energy leader in oil and gas as well as in wind and hydrogen.
In Houston we met with families in the Kashmere Gardens and Houston
Gardens neighborhoods who survived the winter storm and power grid failure
through the kindness of their neighbors and families. They shared with us
their deep desire to ensure that they never have to worry about another
power grid failure right in the middle of the global energy capital. They
love their homes and neighborhoods and want to be able to stay in them.
Our friends in Dallas greeted us with an enthusiasm that underscored how
excited we all are to be in this campaign and have a chance to do
something about the state of our state. We rallied FOR a vision that
includes the big things that matter most to us, like great jobs,
world-class public schools and the ability to see a doctor and be healthy
enough to realize your potential in life. We’re done with the extremism
and incompetence that defines our current leadership.
[ [link removed] ]Beto holding a rally in Dallas
Dallas
Our last days on the road were spent in communities like De Leon in
Comanche County, Rising Star in Eastland County and in the West Texas
towns of Abilene and San Angelo (that those of us in El Paso lovingly
refer to as “East Texas”). What we heard from folks won’t surprise you.
They aren’t interested in the talking points or partisan rhetoric — what
they want, what we all want, are things like “common sense”, “civility”,
and a real “coming together” to focus on the big challenges and
opportunities before us. There’s enough division, enough extremism out
there already, let’s focus on the common ground and move forward from
there. Better health care in communities hard-hit by Covid; investment in
roads and highways to connect these cities to markets and opportunities in
other parts of the state; an increase in teacher pay to ensure that we
attract and retain the best educators for our kids; and investing in
quality of life in these regions so that when these kids graduate they’ll
want to stay or, if they leave for a while, move back to their hometowns.
I am especially interested in that last point, as I think about how we can
help our three kids make the decision to raise their families in El Paso
down the road.
We said our last goodbyes to the people in Tom Green County who’d come out
to welcome us and hit the road late Tuesday afternoon, getting back into
El Paso last night a little before ten o’clock. Kids were still up,
Ulysses was shooting baskets in the driveway when I pulled up, Henry was
on the piano and Molly had come back from the barn earlier in the evening.
Amy heated up some pesto pasta she’d made earlier in the week, fried an
egg to put on top of it, and we sat down and talked about the trip, how
we’re going to get ready for Thanksgiving and how nice it is to be back
home.
I’ll get back on the road again in the next few days, because there are so
many more conversations to have with people all around Texas who are ready
to come together and fight for new leadership for our state.
For now it’s nice to be with our family and have a chance to reflect on
how lucky we are and how grateful I am to be running this campaign with
you. A lot of good people in Texas. Let’s make sure we keep finding ways
to bring us all together to win this and to deliver for each other.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving and see you out there soon,
Beto
[ [link removed] ]Donate Now
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Pol. Adv. Paid for by Beto for Texas.
