Francis Wilkinson, Columnist

Beto O’Rourke Matters Even If He Loses

Cynics can’t wait for the golden boy with the Midas touch to go down to defeat. But his defiant optimism is bigger than Texas.

October 15, 2018 at 10:00 AM UTC

By Francis Wilkinson

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering US politics and policy. Previously, he was executive editor for the Week and a writer for Rolling Stone.

He will matter.
Photographer: Drew Anthony Smith/Getty Images

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Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke on Friday announced a ridiculous third-quarter fundraising haul of $38.1 million. The tally, which brings his Senate campaign total to more than $61 million, mostly raised from small donors, puts him around $25 million ahead of Republican incumbent Senator Ted Cruz, who’s no slouch in the money racket.

This mark of O’Rourke’s extraordinary political success is all the more poignant because it comes after a wave of public polls registering that he is on course to lose in November.