Beto O'Rourke fires up Texas Democrats at state convention

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Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Beto O’Rourke energized the crowd at the Texas Democratic Convention on Friday night in Fort Worth.

No other candidate is bringing hope to Texas Democrats like O'Rourke. He has delegates believing that he could be the first Democratic candidate to win a statewide election in decades.

"This is what Texas looks like, this is what our democracy looks like, to me this is what winning looks like,” O’Rourke said during a featured speech on Friday evening.

O'Rourke will have to defeat incumbent GOP U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. O'Rourke spoke about the Trump administration's immigration policy, saying the younger generation is watching.

"They sooner or later are going to come to us and asked us what we did when they were building walls to separate us from a country with whom we are not at war, when they described the press as the enemy of the people instead of the best defense against tyranny, when they tried to ban all people of one religion from the shores comprised of immigrants and refugees and asylum-seekers the world over,” O’Rourke said.

There are major challenges ahead for O'Rourke. He only got half of the number of votes that Ted Cruz got in the primaries. In order to win, the Democrats know they need to change that.

"This is not a Republican state, it's a non-voting state,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said. “We need people to come out to the polls and vote."

Jenkins says he is working with the O’Rouke campaign to get voters out in North Texas come election day.

Some people in attendance wonder if immigration may help turn the tide on what is a largely Republican electorate in Texas and a state GOP that has a history of taking a hardline stance on immigration.

Democratic candidate for governor and former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez addressed the zero tolerance policy at the border and the separation of children from parents during her speech to delegates.

“Who among us didn't tear up as they heard the audio of the children torn from their parents crying and pleading to be able to hear see or touch their parents,” Valdez said.

Texas Democrats said they were inspired by the speeches.

"It takes everybody to do it. Everybody's always had that attitude that my vote doesn't matter -- but it does matter. Every single vote matters,” said delegate Jodie Morris.

"I think people in the Democratic Party, and now I know I am, are more energized to getting out and doing the work,” said delegate Steve Chapman.

The convention wraps up Sunday.