Beto O’Rourke has been temporarily knocked off the campaign trail — including two events in San Antonio last week — because of a bacterial infection, his campaign announced Sunday.
On Friday, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate abruptly canceled his appearance at Nowhere Bookshop in San Antonio moments before it was set to start. Shortly after, O’Rourke checked into San Antonio’s Methodist Hospital, where he was diagnosed and treated with antibiotics, his campaign said in a statement.
“While my symptoms have improved, I will be resting at home in El Paso in accordance with the doctor’s recommendations,” O’Rourke said in the statement. “I am sorry to have to postpone events because of this, but promise to be back on the road as soon as I am able.”
O’Rourke was also originally set to hold a rally Friday night at the Shrine Auditorium in San Antonio, which will be rescheduled. According to his campaign’s website, appearances in Pearsall, Three Rivers, Corpus Christi and Goliad have all been canceled with the intention of rescheduling.
His next scheduled appearance that has not been canceled is on Wednesday, Aug. 31 in the South Texas city of Falfurrias.
O’Rourke is challenging the Republican incumbent, Greg Abbott, for the governor’s office.
At the beginning of August, O’Rourke began a two-month campaign tour across the state. He’s advocated for restoring abortion rights and called for increased gun safety laws, such as raising the minimum age from 18 to 21 to purchase semiautomatic weapons.
Although some recent polls have suggested a tightening race, an early August poll from the Dallas Morning News and UT Tyler shows Abbott maintaining a seven-point lead. Respondents in the poll favored Abbott 46% to O’Rourke’s 39%.
Texas’ gubernatorial election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8.
