Beto O'Rourke campaign seeks to knock on 5 million doors before November election

Madlin Mekelburg, Austin American-Statesman
·2 min read
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Starting in September, Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s campaign will host 120 “volunteer rallies” across the state as part of an effort to bolster his organizing ranks heading into the fall campaign season.

The goal of these events is to recruit and train thousands of new volunteers who can aid the campaign’s efforts to knock on 5 million doors before the November election, according to his campaign.

“It’s the people of Texas who will decide this election,” O’Rourke said in a statement, adding that these events will train new volunteers “to knock on doors, make phone calls and have the conversations necessary to not only get out the vote but to win this election.”

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The next phase of Beto O'Rourke's campaign will focus on turning out more volunteers to knock on doors and talk with voters. Their goal? Knock on 5 million doors before November.
The next phase of Beto O'Rourke's campaign will focus on turning out more volunteers to knock on doors and talk with voters. Their goal? Knock on 5 million doors before November.

The effort will include 50 stops in rural Texas and nine across the Rio Grande Valley, an area Texas Republicans have been targeting extensively this cycle, including O’Rourke’s opponent Gov. Greg Abbott. The events will be held in both English and Spanish.

O’Rourke has been on the road since July, a 49-day campaign swing that has brought him to different corners of the state for town hall meetings with voters. The volunteer recruitment effort will start Sept. 3, as his tour winds down, and end Oct. 12.

On the campaign trail, O’Rourke has preached about the power of door-knocking and ends each event with a pitch for attendees to sign up for a volunteer shift.

“We’ve got to be on those doors,” O’Rourke said during a recent campaign stop in Marlin. “We’ve got to talk to people, folks. It’s the most profoundly powerful way to connect with someone. TV ads, radio spots, a mailer that collects dust on your kitchen table, all that stuff pales in comparison to a human-to-human, eyeball-to-eyeball, face-to-face connection.”

O’Rourke is trailing Abbott by 7 points, according to the most recent polling in the race. Both O’Rourke and Abbott launched television ads this week in major markets across the state, a sign that the race is intensifying as November draws closer.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Beto O'Rourke governor campaign wants to knock on 5 million doors