HOUSTON — It’s happening again. The stirring of the heart. The quickening of the pulse. The desire to abandon reality, even if you suspect there’s a world of hurt to come. Love, thy name is Beto.

If you haven’t heard, our junior senator from Texas, a.k.a. Darth Vader, a.k.a. Voldemort, a.k.a. Ted Cruz, has a challenger for 2018, a 44-year-old Democratic congressman from El Paso by the name of Beto O’Rourke. Mr. O’Rourke may still be unknown to many, even in the state, but for those searching for a savior of the Turn Texas Blue variety, the crush is blossoming. Among statewide Democratic insiders, Beto is already a member of the First Name Club, with Madonna and Cher.

We’ve been here before, of course. Most cruelly in 2014, with State Senator Wendy Davis’s quixotic quest to defeat Greg Abbott. The livestreaming of her filibuster to kill a heinous anti-abortion bill on the floor of the State Legislature turned Ms. Davis overnight into the Great Democratic Hope of Texas. She was smart (Harvard Law School). She was gorgeous (remember the fangirl spread in Vogue?). And she had a respectable progressive record as both a city councilwoman and a state representative from Fort Worth. Wendy was gonna do it!

She didn’t. Our right-wing governor crushed her by about 20 points. Yes, there were some dumb campaign choices, and not even the truest believers could blame sexism entirely for the loss, but the bottom line was that the Republican Party was still running Texas.