Beto O'Rourke wrapped his official presidential launch on Saturday with a night time rally before the state Capitol, where he kept the emphasis on unity and the best qualities of America - part of the positive campaign he has vowed to run as he fights for the Democratic presidential nomination.

'Are you with me?' he asked the crowd, who roared their approval in response.

Austin was his third and final stop of the day, after he held a series of campaign rallies throughout his home state, using a style more akin to a rock star than a presidential candidate.

Beto O'Rourke wrapped up his campaign kickoff with a rally in Austin before the state capitol

About 14,000 people showed up in Austin to cheer him on

After his remarks supporters jumped fences and rushed to greet him, yelling 'We love you Beto'

Amy O'Rourke joined Beto O'Rourke on stage in Austin

At each of his stops, O'Rourke stood on a stage surrounded by supporters on all four sides, mosh-pit style, giving a speech filled with soaring rhetoric focused on unity and the best in America, while four sign language interpreters - dressed in black - faced each corner of the crowd to communicate his words to them.

Thousands came out to see him. Campaign officials noted attendance hit 6,000 in El Paso, over 10,000 in Houston, and 14,000 in Austin.

After he spoke in Austin, supporters jumped the temporary steel barriers put in place to see him. 'We love you Beto,' they shouted. One woman got a picture of him with her dog.

O'Rourke traveled 900 miles from El Paso Saturday morning to Houston and then on to Austin.

His final event started 90 minutes late as O'Rourke was driving in a mini van from his Houston rally to his Austin location. Latino music played to keep the crowd's spirits up on the cool, windy Austin night.

'Beto, Beto, Beto,' the crowd screamed when his mini van was spotted driving toward the rally site.

His voice was hoarse but O'Rourke kept the energy moving through his third appearance of the day.

A Donald Trump supporter was in the crowd waving a large Trump 2020 sign but O'Rourke supporters out shouted him.

Leading up to his official entry, O'Rourke drove 2,366 miles in a minivan through multiple early voting states - Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada - to hold 51 events and answer 357 questions.

His campaign also raised an eye-opening $6.1 million in its first 24, the biggest haul of any of the Democratic candidates's first day of fundraising.

He will hit the campaign trail running, appearing at the We the People Membership Summit in Washington D.C. on Monday, addressing the National Action Network Annual Conference in New York on Wednesday and then making an Iowa campaign swing.

O'Rourke launched his presidential campaign with a stump speech that stressed the value immigrants brought to the United States, a message in direct contrast to President Donald Trump's threat to close the border, and taking a shot at the president's use of 'fear and division.'

'For too long in this country, the powerful have maintained their privilege at the expense of the powerless. They have used fear and division in the same way that our current president uses fear and division,' O'Rourke said.

'We are Americans first,' he said, as the crowd cheered 'USA, USA, USA.'

Beto O'Rourke formally launched his presidential bid on Saturday

Beto O'Rourke kicked off his campaign with his wife, Amy, and their children, Ulysses, 12, left; Molly, 10, center, and son Henry, 8

After his El Paso rally, O'Rourke held an event in Houston

A supporter in Austin waves an 'Artemis for first dog' sign; the O'Rourkes' black lab appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair with Beto O'Rourke and has been seen in the background of some of his campaign videos

Supporters swarmed Beto O'Rourke after his rally in Austin

But his few criticisms of the president in his remarks were outweighed by his repeated emphasis on the positive values in America and a call to return to those virtues.

'We have learned not to fear our differences but to respect and embrace them. We see the languages spoken in this community, the traditions, the cultures as a strength for El Paso,' O'Rourke said.

'So, whatever our differences, where you live, who you love, to whom you pray, for whom you voted in the last election, let those differences not define us or divide us at this moment,' he said.

His kickoff speech was heavy on the soaring rhetoric and positive vision for the country his Senate campaign relied upon. O'Rourke became a national star when he came within three points of knocking of Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas last year in contest where he raised a record breaking $90 million.

And he pushed back against those who criticized him for launching a national campaign after losing a state race. President Trump has publicly called him a 'loser.'

'We showed up everywhere to listen to everyone,' he said of his Senate campaign. 'It didn't matter how red or how rural, how blue or had you urban, we showed up both with the courage of our convictions and a willingness to listen and learn from those whom we sought to serve in the Senate. And though we did not win that race, although we came awfully close.'

He also touted the high turnout numbers he brought in that contest and how voters from all sides came out for him.

'We all got to be part of something absolutely transformational in our lives and in the democracy of this state. We were able to win votes from Republicans and independents, expand the number of Democrats who voted in an election. And this state, this state which before 2018 had ranked 50th in voter turnout, this state saw voter turnout approaching presidential year election levels. This state saw young voter turnout up 500 percent over the last midterm election. This state and its 38 electoral votes count like they've never counted before. All of us have a seat at the table. All of us matter,' he said.

But he began his formal campaign launch by talking about immigration - a divisive issue in the country - and one he faced off on with President Trump before, when the two spoke at competing rallies in El Paso in February.

'El Paso represents to me America at its best,' the 46-year-old said. ''For more than 100 years this community has welcomed generations of immigrants from across the Rio grande, some having traveled hundreds of miles, some having traveled thousands of miles trying to a better life in this country for themselves and their kids, that's for sure, but also because they were called to contribute to our shared success and to this country's greatness, and they have.'

'I am so glad to be here with you today in my hometown, in my home state, to announce that I'm running to serve you as the next president of the United States of America,' he said to cheers and waving flags.

The setting of O'Rourke's formal announcement was El Paso Street, which connects the town to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and was meant to symbolize the unity theme of his campaign.

Supporters waved black-and-white 'Viva Beto for America' signs, vendors sold t-shirts, and a variety of flags were waved - including the American flag, Gay pride flags and Beto for America flags.

Campaign officials said there were about 6,000 people present to cheer O'Rourke on.

A young Beto O'Rourke supporter waves a sign

O'Rourke poses for a selfie after his speech

A Beto sign in Houston

'This is a campaign for America, for everyone in America,' O'Rourke, wearing his trade mark blue button-down shirt, told the crowd.

'I want to make sure that your gender, that your race, that your family does not prevent you from advancing in this economy,' he noted.

''We will find security not through walls, not through militarization is, we will find security by focusing on our ports of entry that connect us to the rest of the world so we have a better idea of who and what is coming in here and we facilitate the trade and travel connected to millions of jobs around this country,' he said.

He also called on the nation's immigration laws to be rewritten with 'our own values.'

'We will support our CBP officers, our border patrol agents. We will treat every single American with the dignity and respect that they are owed as Americans and as human beings, and if we are really serious about security, we have a golden opportunity, Republicans, independents, Democrats alike, to work on comprehensive immigration reform to rewrite this country's immigration laws in our own image with our own values and in the best traditions of the United States of America,' he added.

He also took a shot at Trump's isolationist foreign policy stance and the president's relationships with leaders like Kim Jong-Un of North Korea.

'Let's end these love affairs with dictators and strong men all over the world. Let's earn the respect of the people around the world, not just by how we treat those in other countries but how we treat those within our country. And how we treat those at the border of our country,' he said.

O'Rourke's first rally came on a cool, windy morning in El Paso, his hometown where his late father served as county commissioner and judge.

'It was really important for Amy and me to launch this campaign from El Paso. It's the city where I was born,' he said to cheers of 'Beto' from the crowd. 'It's the same city where Amy and I are raising our three kids.'

Unity is a major theme of O'Rourke's campaign and he stressed the bipartisanship of his past work.

'You've found or you've helped me to find those Republican colleagues with whom I could walk across the aisle or drive across the country to get the job done for El Paso and for the United States, and we did,' he said, referring to his March 2017 drive from Texas to Washington D.C. with Republican Rep. William Hurd, a trip they livestreamed on Facebook.

O'Rourke surrounded by supporters in El Paso as he launched his presidential bid

He called for unity - which will be a major theme of his presidential campaign

Supporters waved black and white 'Beto for America' signs

He laid out a series of policy proposals in his speech after he's faced past criticism for not having any specific policy programs prepared.

O'Rourke outlined his support for several liberal goals: affordable healthcare, bringing down cost of prescription drugs, a women's right to choose, a 'world-class' public school system, to pay teachers more, strengthen unions, pay a livable wage, equal pay for women, paid family leave, universal background checks for gun purchasers, legalization of marijuana, climate change, and a path to citizenship for Dreamers.

'Let's make sure we never take another child from another mother,' he said as the crowd cheered. 'Let's reunite all of those families that are separated today.'

He also voted to sign a Voting Rights Act if elected president to end gerrymandering and have same-day voter registration.

'As president, I will sign into law a new Voting Rights Act. Together we will end gerrymandering. We will get big money out of our politics and all across this country we will have automatic and same-day voter registration,' he said. 'That's how we're going to do it. A full political democracy is only possible if we vigorously pursue a true economic policy. Every child, every man, every woman in this country must be able to see a future for themselves in this country. Otherwise this country will have no future as a democracy.'

O'Rourke greets supporters after his remarks

Amy O'Rourke introduced her husband to the crowd

O'Rourke greets his daughter Molly, 10, after his speech, with him are Ulysses, 12, and Henry, 8

He ended his rally speaking in Spanish and worked the crowd afterward, posing for photos and shaking hands.

His rally began with the national anthem as sung by Mis Border City 2019 Andrea Chacon, who is also a former Miss El Paso.

Chacon, wearing a sash and large tiara, told DailyMail.com before the rally started that she was excited to be singing but wasn't endorsing O'Rourke just yet.

'I kind of want to see what there is to say. I don't want to make up my mind so fast,' she explained.

O'Rourke was introduced by his wife Amy, who recalled the blind date where they met and traced the story of Beto O'Rourke's political career. Their children - Ulysses, Molly and Henry joined them on stage.

'What was clear to me was how committed he was to El Paso,' Amy O'Rourke recounted of their first date.

'Beto was Beto - he had not changed,' she said recalling her fear of how his his becoming a member of Congress might affect her husband.

'Reaching the decision to run for president was not an easy one,' she said. 'But at the end of the day we knew we had to do everything we possible could in this moment, in this very challenging time.'

O'Rourke has had to apologize for a few gaffs involving his wife: the first when he was criticized for her sitting in silence next to him during his official 2020 announcement video and then for saying she raises their three children practically on her own.

O'Rourke was on a listening tour in several states before he formally launched his campaign

About 6,000 supporters were in the crowd to cheer him on

He apologized for that remark during a campaign swing in Iowa and added that 'I'll be more thoughtful going forward in the way that I talk about our marriage, and also the way in which I acknowledge the truth of the criticism that I have enjoyed white privilege.'

O'Rourke is a fifth generation El Paso resident. He served on the city council before representing the area for four terms in Congress.

He has been on a listening tour in some of the important primary and presidential states: Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.

His announcement on the border comes at a time immigration is topic of vitriol in the country. President Donald Trump is threatening to close the border to stop a surge of migrants from entering the United States.

Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar, who replaced O'Rourke in Congress, touted this 'son of border' as the best person to tackle the immigration issue when she introduced him at his El Paso event.

She also vowed a positive campaign from the former congressman.

'We are not going to engage in the same way others engage. We are going to lift each other up,' she said.

O'Rourke has risen in the polls since announcing his bid earlier this month. In a Quinnipiac poll released on Thursday, he was in third place after former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders.