Of the voters who turned up in Texas polling places to support Senate hopeful Beto O’Rourke on Tuesday, one voter, Pamela Aguirre, may be one of the most passionate.
O’Rourke has spent much of Election Day thus far visiting various polling places in the state. Aguirre was overcome with emotion when he appeared at her polling place in El Paso, Texas.
Donning her “Beto for Senate” T-shirt and with an oxygen tank beside her, the 77-year-old was brought to tears during an interview on MSNBC while talking about her appreciation for the Texas Democrat.
She told MSNBC’s Garrett Haake in a tearful interview that she “wasn’t expecting” O’Rourke to show up and thinks “he’s pretty important.”
“We’re honored that he was here,” she said, before adding that O’Rourke “represents everything that Donald Trump isn’t.”
When Haake asked Aguirre what it means for her to see O’Rourke hitting the pavement and attempting to make a difference on the national stage, she said: “Well, I give him a lot of credit for standing up and saying what he thinks and for being willing to represent so many people who are like-minded. It means a lot. We’re just so proud.”
O’Rourke is in a tight race against incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz, with the latter up six points in the polls as of last week. O’Rourke’s efforts have been no small feat, particularly considering his fundraising capabilities. The Democratic challenger raised $31 million, all from small donors.
Aguirre told Haake that it would mean “everything” to her if O’Rourke won.
“We want him to win, and we’ll be watching the TV tonight with him,” she said through tears. “He’ll be someplace in the city. But it’ll be just so much. It will mean that, my gosh, we all still have a chance to have a decent country and decent values with decent relationships with other people.”
O’Rourke himself voted Tuesday morning in El Paso.