You thought that Beto O’Rourke was going to quietly fade away into the Texas sunset to lick his wounds and eat some dirt? Well, not yet.

With so many Texas Republicans announcing their retirement this year, the Democrats smelled an opportunity to, as they put it, “turn Texas blue.” Now, it is true that a Republican majority has held for a long time in Texas, but it should never be taken for granted. It is also true that Donald Trump is polarizing to local elections. His coattails have not been long enough in recent midterms to really help other Republican candidates down the line, and the results have kind of been a mixed bag.

However, Texas Democrats seemed to think that their best spokesperson for remaking Texas into a bluer state was by getting one Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke out there on the campaign trail to help out. While Beto did get close to laying a glove on Senator Ted Cruz, he absolutely made a fool of himself on the national stage by running (badly) for president. And in the process of slinging out “hot” one-liners during debates, he made himself radioactive in Texas. What average Texas voter is going to take the “hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15, your AK-47” guy seriously?

Yeah, THAT guy is the one that Democrats are hanging their hopes on for a Democrat blue wave in Texas. And what better place to start than a special election for the state House?

The first critical election of 2020 is happening now in Fort Bend, TX. Victory for Eliz Markowitz means we can win the state house and build the team to defeat Trump in Texas. Join us to knock on doors this last weekend before Election Day. https://t.co/jRr8swVw1S

— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) January 24, 2020

Well, that special election happened last night. Spoiler alert: nothing turned blue.

Gary Gates, a businessman who spent nearly $2 million on his own campaign, scored 58 percent of the vote in the runoff election to outpace Eliz Markowitz, a Democrat and an education expert making her second run for office.”

Democrats had spent heavily on Markowitz’s behalf in a district that seemed to be trending their way. Groups like Forward Majority and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee invested more than $600,000 in her campaign, a startling amount for an election in which the winner would not even get to serve in Austin before the next election in November.”

But but but Beto had only lost this district during his Senate campaign by 3 points! Surely that meant a blue wave was nigh?

Democrats privately admitted that the election became more about O’Rourke, who ended his presidential bid in November, than about Markowitz or Gates. O’Rourke’s presence was ubiquitous, pushing Republican voters to the polls.”

Republicans ran four advertisements linking Markowitz to hot-button issues like gun control, church tax exemptions, immigration and to O’Rourke’s vote against Hurricane Harvey tax relief in Congress, issues aimed at getting base voters to the polls in what would otherwise be a sleepy special election.”

Ohhhhhhh. I guess Beto isn’t nearly as popular as he thinks he is in Texas.

No less than Governor Greg Abbott checked in with Beto to see how things were going.

Wait.

Beto math was that if he won or was close in a House district then he could help a democrat win.

He came within 3% in this district.

Early returns show the Republican winning by about 18%

Beto math doesn’t work.
All of that $ was incinerated. https://t.co/1euLaqE0px

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) January 29, 2020

It’s okay, Beto. You tried. You only wasted other people’s money, and you tried. Gold stars for everyone, right?

So proud of @ElizMarkowitz, her team and all of the amazing volunteers who produced one of the highest turnouts in a special election in Texas history. The work continues, building for victories in November in this and other state house races. Congratulations to @GatesforTexas

— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) January 29, 2020

Two things can be true at the same time. First, the GOP cannot take Texas for granted. With so many vacancies, it is important that good conservative candidates find their way into those races at both the state and Congressional level. Keeping Texas red is doable, but good candidates will make it a lot easier. Second, Beto is a gigantic jackwad who doesn’t quite seem to realize that he’s made himself about as popular as a cold virus in Texas. Now, no one tell him or the Democrats, because the more they send out the super-radical idiot who says insane things to represent their impending blue wave, the better. Spread that Beto around the state, I say! Let him become the face of the Texas Democrats and see what happens.

Featured image: Beto O’Rourke at a Los Angeles rally on April 27, 2019, photo by Luke Harold, public domain under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication