Democrat Beto O’Rourke woos rural Texans in GOP strongholds, ignoring party playbook

PHOTOS: Beto on the road Beto O'Rourke speaks to people attending the "Beers with Beto" event at the Six Car Pub & Brewery Tuesday, July 31, 2018, in Amarillo, Texas. >>Take a look at the scenes as Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke campaigns through Texas. less PHOTOS: Beto on the road Beto O'Rourke speaks to people attending the "Beers with Beto" event at the Six Car Pub & Brewery Tuesday, July 31, 2018, in Amarillo, Texas. >>Take a look at the scenes as ... more Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close Democrat Beto O’Rourke woos rural Texans in GOP strongholds, ignoring party playbook 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

EL PASO — Beto O'Rourke likes to tell the story of a campaign stop in Archer City, a highway junction of about 1,750 souls on the north central plains that was portrayed as a dying Texas town in "The Last Picture Show."

On his way to a town hall at Murn's cafe, O'Rourke says a local approached him with a picture of his dad posing with Lyndon Johnson in 1948. As far as anyone could recall, LBJ's stop — he landed in a helicopter in front of the courthouse — was the last time a Democratic Senate candidate had campaigned there.

DEBATING THE DEBATE: Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke haggle over debates as Aug. 31 looms

O'Rourke's visit came during a sweep of all 254 counties in Texas over the past year. Many of the miles were clocked in a white Dodge Grand Caravan. It was a trip that would have been easy to dismiss as a one-time campaign stunt. But this month, he was back in rural West Texas as he launched a 34-day road trip across the state.

Exclusively on HoustonChronicle.com: Beto O'Rourke has chance of beating Ted Cruz, but ignore the horse race

It's a new playbook, born of Democratic futility in Texas.

The first three days of O'Rourke's journey took him 765 zig-zagging miles — from a friendly, Latin-flavored send-off in downtown El Paso to sparsely-attended stops in gun-friendly Republican strongholds like Muleshoe, in Bailey County, where he would get quizzed by skeptical locals about the Second Amendment.

O'Rourke is covering 250 miles a day to win over Texas. But will his work in far-flung Republican strongholds like Muleshoe, Archer City and Fort Davis pay off in November? See what rural Texans are saying O'Rourke's town hall tour on our subscriber website, HoustonChronicle.com.