Texas senate candidate Beto O’Rourke is being called the best candidate in the 2018 field by analysts on both sides of the political fence, and now country music superstar Willie Nelson wants to risk the wrath of some of his conservative fans and publicly help O’Rourke beat Sen. Ted Cruz.
“My wife Annie and I have met and spoken with Beto and we share his concern for the direction things are headed,” Nelson said in the press release. “Beto embodies what is special about Texas, an energy and an integrity that is completely genuine.”
Wilson will headline a concert and rally for O’Rourke in Austin later this month. It will be his first free public concert for a political candidate in his long career.
At his annual 4th of July Picnic earlier this summer, Nelson welcomed O’Rourke onstage to join him on guitar for set-closing renditions of “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”
O’Rourke is hoping to ride a big blue wave into the senate this November. Several polls show a tight race in a contest many felt, just a few months ago, Cruz would win easily.
The 45-year-old O’Rourke, who once performed in the punk band Foss with At the Drive-In’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala, has drawn comparisons to Barack Obama for his grassroots campaign and candid, energetic town halls. In July, he completed a 34-day road trip across Texas, visiting all 254 counties of the state.