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.
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.
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).
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.
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
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