By CJ Vetter
BUDA - At the annual Red, White and Buda celebration, Buda residents received a surprise visit from gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke. Stopping by for the festivities, Beto also made a point of being in Hays County on July 4 due to its long democratic history.
Beto’s arrival in Buda was mostly unannounced, and he arrived initially to give a speech in the town's gazebo on Main Street, before heading to the park with his family to enjoy the festival. His purpose for being in Buda, besides wanting to attend Red, White and Buda, was to further grow his grassroots campaign.
“This is the fastest growing county in America, bar none. This is where more people are choosing to come in the entire state of Texas, with 254 counties from which to choose. This is the place. This is also the place that I think, by and large, will determine the outcome of this election, for governor, for state representative and for majority control of the state legislature,” O’Rourke said.
The Red, White and Buda celebration is a long-standing tradition of Buda, and features plenty of food, entertainment and fireworks. The day-long celebration kicked off with a bike parade, followed by a festival at City Park. The park also offered its natural beauty, playground and splash pad for visitors to enjoy. Two live performances, by Shinyribs and Jack Ingram, also took place, and were soon followed by a firework spectacular.
“This is the epicenter of democracy in the state of Texas. This is where I want to be on the 4th of July. Where we celebrate the founding ideals of this country, including free and fair elections. So, I’m excited to be here,” O’Rourke said. “We’re excited to go over and just have some fun. We brought our kids. Very rarely do Amy and I get to take our kids out on the road and so we consciously chose this place.”
