Democrats cheered and Republicans jeered Beto O’Rourke’s official announcement Monday that the Democrat is entering the Texas governor’s race to run against GOP Gov. Greg Abbott.

Abbott tweeted twice about his potential opponent’s entry into the race, tying him to President Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, two Democratic candidates for Texas lieutenant governor -- Mike Collier and Matthew Dowd -- welcomed O’Rourke to the race,

“I am thrilled to have Beto in this fight,” Collier said in a written statement. “With a strong Democratic ticket, the Texas GOP will spend the next year answering for a record of hypocrisy, government overreach, and shameful partisanship.”

Cruz’s comments

Sen. Ted Cruz, who barely managed to fend off O’Rourke to secure a second term in 2018, dusted off a caustic jingle from that campaign that accuses the Democrat of hiding his Anglo roots with a Latino nickname, and warns that he’s a gun-grabber.

It’s set to a 1984 country hit by Alabama: If You’re Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band), and Cruz tweeted Monday that O’Rourke’s announcement seemed like a good time “to reprise a classic.”

I remember reading stories liberal Robert wanted to fit in,

So he changed his name to Beto and hid it with a grin.

Beto wants those open borders and he wants to take our guns.

Not a chance on earth he’ll get a vote from millions of Texans.

If you’re going to run in Texas you can’t be a liberal man.

Cruz unveiled the jingle the day O’Rourke won the Democratic primary in 2018. O’Rourke would go on to collect more donations than any Senate nominee in Texas history, holding Cruz below 51% -- which remains the worst showing for a statewide GOP nominee in Texas since 1994. Both feats have made him something of a folk hero to Democrats, who would dearly love to snap a losing streak that now stretches past a quarter-century in Texas.

Democratic reaction

And another former rival, Julian Castro, who like O’Rourke ran for the 2020 presidential nomination tweeted that the former El Paso congressman could win.

Other Democrats were predictably thrilled with O’Rourke’s decision to run.

“Beto O’Rourke enters the race for Governor with the highest name recognition and fundraising ability of any Democratic challenger in a generation,” said Ed Espinoza, president of Progress Texas. “Gov. Abbott has spent the past year appeasing the far-right base with policies such as banning abortion, permitless carry, and bizarre covid policies, while doing nothing to address the failing energy grid or access to affordable health care.”

Espinoza added, “With 92% of Texans concerned about the state’s future, it’s a good year to be an outsider.”

More Republican reaction

Macarena Martinez of the Republican National Committee said the GOP " looks forward to defeating Beto O’Rourke and his radical leftist ideas for a third time. Gilberto Hinojosa continues to push the twice-rejected O’Rourke because Texas Democrats have no bench, no infrastructure, no hope, and no plan.”

One of Abbott’s primary opponents, former state Sen. Don Huffines, used the occasion to criticize Abbott and used one of O’Rourke’s early lines of attack -- pointing to the failure of the state’s power grid in February during the winter storm.

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, brought up O’Rourke’s comments on wanting to ban assault rifles.

“Beto O’Rourke running for Governor of Texas after openly declaring his hatred for guns is one of the silliest thing I’ve heard since… *checks history* Ever,” she wrote on Twitter.

And the National Rifle Association also said it would again work against O’Rourke, tweeting: “NOTE TO BETO: Texans HAVE NEVER and WILL NEVER turn in their guns. We beat Beto before and we’ll beat him again.”

What the experts say

Finally, the Cook Political Report, which rates races across the country, said Monday it would keep the Texas governor’s race likely Republican, noting that the environment for Democrats will be much worse in 2022 than when O’Rourke ran against Cruz in 2018.

Washington Bureau Chief Todd J. Gillman contributed to this report.