Hundreds of people lined up under a light drizzle outside the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation on Tuesday morning for a chance to size up U.S. presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke firsthand.

The former Texas congressman drew cheers and repeated chants of “Beto, Beto” as he entered the auditorium before taking the stage for the latest — and last — stop in a campaign swing through the Golden State.

Outside the town hall-style rally, supporters were selling Beto For America T-shirts for $20 and skateboard-themed keychains for $5. Inside, campaign aides collected names and contact information from visitors as they made their way indoors.

Songs by Bob Dylan, Prince, the Rolling Stones and the Replacements filled the air in the run-up to the speech and question-and-answer session.


O’Rourke opened the rally speaking in Spanish, generating hoots and applause across the crowd of all ages and races. He soon switched to English to describe how his father used to pile the kids into the family car and head west on vacations when he was a child.

“I feel at home here in San Diego,” he said. “It’s only a 10½-hour drive from El Paso, which in Texas terms is only around the corner.”

In a wide-ranging address that touched on most every major policy dispute confronting the country, the White House hopeful talked about returning America to a place that celebrates diversity and makes education and healthcare a priority for everyone.

United States presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke listens to a question during a town hall-style rally at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation in San Diego on April 30, 2019. (K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)


He also criticized the rhetoric President Donald Trump uses to describe immigrants, especially those who are fleeing violence in Central America.

“We do not need to fear one another,” he said. “We do not need to hate one another … If (seeking asylum) was the only way to save the life of our 8-year-old, Henry, you can believe that’s what Amy and I would do.”

The 2020 election, O’Rourke said, is a chance to reject the Trump administration’s border strategy of separating families, locking children in cages and preventing immigrant communities from fully contributing to the American experience.

“We must use this as an opportunity to rewrite this within an immigration policy in our own image,” he said. “We can start by freeing every Dreamer from the fear of deportation.”


“Dreamers” is a colloquial term for people who were brought to the United States as children illegally but have become ingrained in society through years of attending school, work and other efforts. Trump has moved to end an Obama program that offers them a path to citizenship.

O’Rourke also touted the $5 trillion climate-change plan he unveiled Monday during a stop in Yosemite National Park.

He blamed a recent spate of wildfires in California, flooding across the Midwest, heat waves and other weather anomalies on climate change, and noted that the average global temperature has risen one degree in the past couple of decades.

“We are on a course to warm another degree — not 2 degrees, but 3 or 4” in the next 10 years, he said. “All of these (recent natural disasters) will become exponentially worse for us and our kids unless we act now.”


O’Rourke took questions from the audience following his 25-minute address. He fielded inquiries about his lack of foreign policy experience, whether he would commit to naming a woman as his running mate, how he would tackle homelessness and improve education and whether the U.S. should intervene in the environmental policies of foreign nations.

He did not directly address his lack of foreign policy experience, but said the overseas wars must end. It’s premature to announce his choice for vice president, but the next administration needs to look more like the nation as a whole, he said.

O’Rourke said he would work to help pass the Equal Rights Amendment, expand public housing programs and services for veterans, boost teacher salaries, rejoin the Paris climate treaty and push other countries to adopt more climate-friendly energy practices.

When asked by a self-described disillusioned Republican how he might win his vote, O’Rourke cited six years on the non-partisan El Paso City Council and three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he worked across the aisle to secure mental-health funding for veterans and other bipartisan legislation.


“We would find the common ground to pursue the common good,” he said.

The appearance was well-received by people in the audience, even if many were not ready to declare their support in a Democratic Party primary field that has swelled to 20 candidates.

Jocelyn Ramirez, a Southwestern College student from Chula Vista, said O’Rourke came across as sincere and passionate.

“It’s very inspiring,” she said after the rally. “I love how he connects with the Latino community, mixing Spanish and English. I’m Mexican-American, so it feels like he’s part of my family.”


United States presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke takes photos with supporters during a town hall-style rally at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation in San Diego on April 30, 2019. (K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Ramirez said she would have liked O’Rourke to spell out how he would help young people pay for college or reduce the

burden of student-loan debt. In his speech, O’Rourke made reference to the problem but did not propose a specific plan to fight college debt.

Carmen Salmon, a grandmother from Scripps Ranch, said she has not been so excited by a political candidate since the 1960s.

“We worked for Bobby Kennedy and this is the first time that I felt anything like going out to help a campaign,” she said. “He has such charisma -- just like Bobby had -- and he speaks for the people.”


In his initial comments, O’Rourke talked about public service and the toll it can take on family. He said he had been traveling for nearly a week and was looking forward to getting home for a few days to help his wife and see his children.

“Those of you in San Diego are no strangers to service,” he said. “Our hats are off to you for what you do.”

