High stakes for O'Rourke in Texas governor's debate Friday

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Beto O'Rourke spent his 50th birthday this week behind the wheel of his pickup in Texas, fast approaching a big moment in his uphill climb for governor.

While a road trip through college campuses showed how the Democrat continues to draw big crowds — a photo line at the University of Texas snaked across an outdoor plaza in 90-degree heat — O'Rourke is still trying to close in on Republican Gov. Greg Abbott with six weeks until Election Day, Nov. 8.

That raises the stakes for O'Rourke on Friday night in his only debate against Abbott, who has tried to refocus the race to his hard-line immigration measures on the U.S.-Mexico border as anger in Texas over a new abortion ban and the Uvalde school massacre continues flaring.

With early voting set to begin in just over three weeks, some O'Rourke supporters are looking for significant swings during the debate, which the former 2020 presidential candidate knows better than most can leave a lasting impression.

“Here's the way I see it: Most Texans are just beginning to tune into this election,” O'Rourke said in an interview. The Democrat emphasized that Abbott started running television spots before his campaign, which has pulled in at least $30 million and put has the two-term governor in the rare position of being outraised.

Abbott, who wants to stomp out Democrats' latest attempt to flip America's biggest Republican-led state, isn't ready to say this may be his tightest race.

"This game ain't over yet, and we'll see how close it is when all is said and done," he told reporters this month.

Like many Democrats running in November, O'Rourke is drawing on outrage over abortion access and mass shootings, issues that have energized voters elsewhere. But as Texas Democrats also know, those same issues have...