I am thrilled this evening live from El Paso, Texas, Congressman Beto O'Rourke, great American patriot,

an important voice.

I think as people join us, you still hold the record for the most votes ever for a Democrat in the state of Texas. I think that might be right. Certainly it was true in

2018. The other distinction that I love from the campaign and all the people who worked on it was

it was the first Democrat to win the five major metro areas and surrounding counties in Texas since LBJ did it in 64.

So there was a real resurgence in that campaign in not just Democratic Party power, but in

people who had checked out of politics for whatever reason, didn't feel like the institutions or the

system or the parties were working for them, who came out, took a chance, and got involved.

And though we didn't beat Ted Cruz, and I'm forever sorry for that, I do think good things

have continued to roll from that campaign in 2018, not necessarily for me, but just for Texas

and what is possible politically. And we may get into that in the conversation. But yeah,

that was a great campaign. Jay, uh, J.B. Prisker, the governor of Illinois, gave a very important speech.

I would argue the most effective response we have seen thus far from any elected Democrat anywhere in the country. He did it from the Illinois State Legislature

in Springfield, Illinois, that he talked about the things that he talked about,

I think were of important and obvious consequence.

But there is a line in Governor Pritzker's speech where he says, I am not rising because of my ambitions, but rather because of my obligations.

And what I want to say to everybody as people are getting on and we're now north of a thousand people

with us and continuing to climb so we get ready to start the conversation is that you just

heard Beto O'Rourke say that hey I lost that race to Ted Cruz, and I'm sorry for that.

And let me just say, there's no apology needed.

What you have for me is the deepest respect and admiration.

And what I want everybody on this call to understand is the courage it takes to put your name on that ballot and to stand in that arena, particularly in a state where your opponent gets to run downhill with no backpack and you have to run uphill with a heavy backpack. They get to do it on a nice

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