Beto O'Rourke

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Beto O'Rourke (2013)

Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke (born September 26, 1972 in El Paso , Texas ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party . From 2013 to 2019 he represented the Texas border town of El Paso and the surrounding area in the US House of Representatives . He was a candidate for the United States Senate in 2018 against Republican mandateer Ted Cruz and became widely known for his dedicated campaign. In March 2019, he announced his application to the democratic primary for the 2020 presidential election , but withdrew it in November of the same year before the start of the primaries .

Family, education and work

Beto O'Rourke comes from a family of Irish Americans who came to Texas to build railways and are now the fourth generation to live there. His mother Melissa Martha b. Williams is the stepdaughter of former Secretary of the Navy Fred Korth and works in a furniture business that she has taken over, his father Pat Francis O'Rourke was a judge of El Paso County . The longtime Democrat, who had stood up for the presidential candidate Jesse Jackson in the 1980s , switched to the Republicans in 1988 and ran unsuccessfully in their primary election for the 16th congressional district of Texas before the election to the US House of Representatives in 1992 .

Since his early childhood, O'Rourke has been addressed using the Spanish short form of his first name "Beto" - originally, according to O'Rourke, to distinguish him from his grandfather of the same name. His opponent Cruz accused him of pandering over the short name in 2018. O'Rourke attended Mesita Elementary School and El Paso High School. As a teenager, who speaks fluent Spanish , he spent a lot of time in the neighboring Mexican border town of Ciudad Juárez , which forms a twin town with El Paso.

In the early 1990s he appeared as a guitarist and singer with Cedric Bixler-Zavala in the punk band Foss and toured with them through the USA and Canada. He was briefly arrested for a break-in in 1995 (a test of courage on the premises of the University of Texas at El Paso ) and a drunk driving in 1998. Until 1995 he studied at Columbia University in New York City , where he obtained a bachelor's degree in English literature . After that, according to the New York Times, he drifted for some time and worked in New York and then in El Paso as a babysitter, art transporter, lecturer, poet, musician and convention intern, among other things. In 1999 he founded a company specializing in web development and -design specialized Stanton Street Technology Group was given for the 2018 annual sales of 1.5 million dollars and the fourteen employees employed. In addition, until early 2017, O'Rourke was a partner in a real estate company and holds shares in a shopping mall. In the Senate election campaign, Ted Cruz accused him of buying shares in Twitter on the day of the IPO in 2013 , which looked like insider trading . O'Rourke denied the allegation that his stock broker had acted without his knowledge, sold the shares two days later and had the matter reviewed by the House of Representatives Ethics Committee.

Beto O'Rourke has been married to Amy Hoover Sanders, daughter of real estate entrepreneur William Sanders, and has three children since 2005.

Political career

Beginnings and US House of Representatives

O'Rourke went into politics while doing IT and served on El Paso City Council from 2005 to 2011.

In the 2012 election , O'Rourke was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the 16th Congressional constituency of Texas after defeating longtime mandate holder Silvestre Reyes with 50.5 to 44.4 percent in the Democratic primary . Reyes, as the former chairman of the intelligence committee, was a political heavyweight that Barack Obama and Bill Clinton had supported in the campaign. O'Rourke had conducted a dedicated doorstep campaign, characterizing Reyes as inefficient and unethical by picking up reports that Reyes had paid family members out of campaign funds. In the main election, O'Rourke beat Republican Barbara Carrasco with 65 to 33 percent of the vote and succeeded Reyes in Congress on January 3, 2013. The ethnic makeup of the constituency, which includes the city of El Paso and its suburbs, is 75 percent Mexican and 2 percent Irish . He was re-elected with 67 and 86 percent in the 2014 and 2016 elections; since he did not take office again in 2018 , his mandate ended on January 3, 2019.

Application for the US Senate

On March 31, 2017, O'Rourke announced as the first candidate that he would run for a seat in the United States Senate in the November 2018 election against Republican mandateer Ted Cruz . Since ten mandate holders ran for the Democrats in this Senate election in states that Donald Trump had won in the 2016 presidential election , he could not count on financial or logistical support, especially since O'Rourke was not widely known. However, through the announcement of his candidacy, he gained nationwide media attention. No Democrat had won state political office or mandate in Texas for over twenty years; Lloyd Bentsen last decided a Senate election for the Democrats in Texas in 1988 . In the 2018 election campaign, O'Rourke relied on anti-Trump sentiment and the unpopularity of the rival candidate Cruz, who achieved 37 percent approval among Texans in 2017. He kept his distance from his federal party and advocated the classic political goals of Irish-born politicians, such as social progressivism and the welfare of middle and lower income groups. He made extensive use of social media and visited all 254 counties in Texas, including places that had not been campaigned for a long time.

Several times he succeeded, despite his commitment not to accept any money from Political Action Committees , to collect more donations per quarter than Cruz; In the first quarter of 2018, O'Rourke had the highest donation income of all Democratic Senate candidates in the US with $ 6.7 million. In early March 2018, O'Rourke won the Democratic primary election with 61.8 percent of the vote. In the second quarter of 2018, O'Rourke raised $ 10.4 million (Cruz 4.1 million). Most of the polls saw Cruz ahead, but the gap narrowed to a few percentage points in the summer of 2018, so that the Cook Political Report reduced its forecast from likely to lean (probably too lean ) for Cruz at the beginning of August and O'Rourke certified that he was deeply conservative Texas made "incredible progress". Cruz responded with negative campaigning in August 2018 by accusing O'Rourke of extreme positions in television spots, which in turn sparked a wave of donations for O'Rourke. In September the Cook Political Report changed its assessment to completely open (toss up). In total, O'Rourke took in the extraordinary sum of $ 70 million in campaign contributions. In the election he was defeated by 48.3 to 50.9 percent of the vote and thus narrower than forecast. The total number of votes rose from 4.6 million in the last Texas half-time election to 8.3 million. O'Rourke received more votes than Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, won in particular in the previously Republican-leaning suburbs of the large metropolises of the state and helped the previously marginalized Democrats, in addition to two congressional electoral districts, some positions in the state legislature , in judicial offices and on Won county level. The result was the tightest of any Senate election in Texas in forty years. Instead of courting swing voters from the middle, O'Rourke had relied on mobilizing people who were less inclined to vote. Instead of the professional, data-driven microtargeting (customary since Obama), his flexible, quickly scalable strategy relied on volunteer, little trained and hardly controlled, but highly committed helpers.

Presidential candidacy

Since O'Rourke had built up nationwide fame and a large donor network through his election campaign, speculation was already going on during the election campaign that he could run in the 2020 presidential election. Cruz's chief strategist, Jeff Roe, said shortly after the Senate election that the Democrats had no one else of his caliber. By then, O'Rourke, whose campaign team consisted of many of Bernie Sanders ' former aides , had ruled out any candidacy with reference to his young children. In November 2018, bookmakers estimated his chances in the Democratic presidential election at 18 to 25 percent, second only to Kamala Harris . According to observers, O'Rourke froze the Democratic candidate field at the end of 2018 as long as he did not comment on his own plans, as donors showed restraint in view of the expected large number of applicants and O'Rourke was trusted to generate large sums of money in fundraising in a short time and move to the top of the field. Many of President Barack Obama's past aides and donors have shown interest in O'Rourke because of his resemblance as a candidate.

While some party friends announced their presidential candidacy at the beginning of 2019, O'Rourke went on a road trip through the southern United States alone and without any major planning. He remained present in the media through diary-like short notes shared online; The election campaign manager Robby Mook saw this unorthodox preparation for a possible candidacy as very promising, because O'Rourke would be perceived as refreshing and different in a person-focused election and not constantly viewed in the context of Trump, but for himself. When President Trump held a major event in El Paso in February 2019 to promote his wall construction plans on the immediately adjacent border with Mexico, O'Rourke held a counter-event with thousands of participants at the same time, which brought him nationwide attention. On March 14, O'Rourke announced his entry into the Democratic presidential primary. On November 1, 2019, he withdrew this application.

Positions and Actions

O'Rourke is considered relatively moderate within the Democratic Party. He combines more left positions (in the American sense "liberal" ) with business-friendly (in the American sense libertarian ) and advocates the right to abortion ( pro-choice ) and a comprehensive reform of immigration policy , but also the dismantling of Regulations for the financial sector, among others. In Congress, O'Rourke made for a fight against a gang and drug-related strong by the legalization of cannabis called. He also saw himself as a representative of the interests of the Mexican border town Ciudad Juárez , which directly borders El Paso, and declared in 2014 that there were no border problems, which is why he advocated opening them. O'Rourke was considered a reliable supporter of the party line in Congress; In his first year he voted 93 percent of the time with the democratic party leadership, in 2016 it was 98 percent. As super delegate to the Democratic National Convention , he voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election . O'Rourke, who, however temporarily, a military school has visited itself offered no military service, sat in Congress in particular for the affairs of veterans and their care after active duty one, so he weekly Town Hall held -meeting for this.

O'Rourke became famous when he streamed the Democratic Congressman's sit-in for greater gun control live on his Facebook page in the summer of 2016 after spokesman Paul Ryan banned C-Span from recording the event . When a blizzard interrupted air traffic to Washington in March 2017, O'Rourke drove the 1,600 miles from Texas to Washington with his Republican congress colleague Will Hurd in a rental car and streamed the entertainment live during the thirty-six hour drive (#CongressionalCannonballRun). In front of tens of thousands of spectators, including dozens of congress colleagues and Mark Zuckerberg , they spoke about health policy and border security, among other things. At an election rally in August 2018, O'Rourke defended NFL players who kneeled before games in protest of racist police violence against African Americans during the national anthem as patriotic, comparing it to the civil rights movement's nonviolent resistance . His response went viral and received acclaim from many athletes and celebrities, including LeBron James and Ellen DeGeneres ; Kurt Warner tweeted that O'Rourke hit the nail on the head.

O'Rourke's appearance and campaign style have often been compared to Robert F. Kennedy . In his authentic, tangible demeanor full of energy and without the sterility prescribed by consultants, Vanity Fair magazine compared him to Barack Obama and saw in him a role model for how Democrats can remain competitive during Donald Trump's presidency . In the Senate election campaign, O'Rourke received support from a number of prominent Texas musicians, including Leon Bridges and Willie Nelson , who appeared for the first time for a politician and presented the new song "Vote 'em Out" for the campaign; about 55,000 people attended a joint appearance in Austin at the end of September 2018 , the largest election campaign event in the United States for years.

After the attack in El Paso, Texas in August 2019, he said the administration of Donald Trump was fomenting racism with its anti-migrant rhetoric. Trump's derogatory comments on Muslims, migrants and non-whites fueled a surge in hate crimes.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert Draper: Texas, 3 Ways. In: The New York Times , November 14, 2014.
  2. ↑ Stephanie Dube Dwilson: Beto O'Rourke's Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. In: Heavy.com , November 6, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Tessa Stuart: Beto O'Rourke: Ted Cruz's punk-rock problem. In: Rolling Stone , September 12, 2017.
  4. ^ Patrick Francis "Pat" O'Rourke. In: Find a Grave ; David Crowder: Beto O'Rourke, US Representative for Texas's 16th congressional district. In: El Paso Inc. , February 3, 2013.
  5. ↑ Jonathan Tilove: 'So he changed his name to Beto and hid it with a grin.' On the deeper purposes of the Cruz jingle. In: The American-Statesman , March 9, 2018.
  6. ↑ Tara Golshan: The raging controversy over Beto O'Rourke's full name, explained '. In: Vox.com , March 8, 2018.
  7. ↑ John Stanton: Juarez's Biggest Booster Is An Irish-American Congressman. In: BuzzFeed , October 14, 2014.
  8. ↑ a b c Brent Scher: Meet the Irish-American Going by a Mexican Nickname Challenging Ted Cruz. In: The Washington Free Beacon , March 31, 2017.
  9. ^ Christopher Bates: Democratic Presidential Candidate of the Week: Beto O'Rourke. In: Electoral Vote , November 11, 2018; Matt Flegenheimer: Beto O'Rourke Was Once Adrift in New York City. Now He's Searching Again. In: The New York Times , February 6, 2019.
  10. ^ Stanton Street Technology Group, Inc. In: Manta.com ; Stanton Street Technology Group Inc. In: BBB.org ; StantonStreet.com.
  11. ^ Abby Livingston: Disclosures offer window into personal finances of Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke in Senate race. In: Texas Tribune , October 4, 2018.
  12. ^ A b James Wilson: Irish American Congressman to challenge Ted Cruz for US Senate. In: Irish Central , April 4, 2017; Stephanie Dube Dwilson: Beto O'Rourke's Family: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. In: Heavy.com , November 6, 2018.
  13. ^ David Siders: When they go low, Beto can too. In: Politico , December 17, 2018.
  14. ↑ Rachel Weiner: Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) defeated by Beto O'Rourke. In: The Washington Post , May 30, 2012; O'Rourke, Beto. In: OurCampaigns.com.
  15. ↑ Lisa Hagen: Texas Dem enters race to challenge Cruz in 2018. In: The Hill , March 31, 2017.
  16. ^ Abby Livingston: To beat Ted Cruz, Beto O'Rourke plans to throw out the Democratic playbook. In: The Texas Tribune , March 31, 2017.
  17. ^ Matt Viser: Why So Many People Are Betting on Beto O'Rourke. In: Town & Country , July 26, 2018.
  18. ↑ Patrick Svitek: With $ 2.4 million haul, Beto O'Rourke easily outraised Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to close out 2017. In: Texas Tribune , January 28, 2018; Jonathan Tilove: Beto O'Rourke nearly triples Ted Cruz fundraising in 2018. In: Austin-American Statesman , February 26, 2018; Patrick Svitek: Beto O'Rourke says he raised staggering $ 6.7M in first quarter of 2018. In: The Texas Tribune , April 3, 2018.
  19. ↑ Miguel Suazo Jasmine C. Lee, Sarah Almukhtar, Matthew Bloch: Texas Primary Election Results. In: The New York Times , March 6, 2018.
  20. ^ Max Greenwood: Poll: Senate race between Cruz, O'Rourke a dead heat. In: The Hill , August 1, 2018.
  21. ↑ Texas Senate - Cruz vs. O'Rourke. In: RealClearPolitics ; Jennifer E. Duffy: O'Rourke Puts Race into Lean Republican Column. In: Cook Political Report , August 3, 2018.
  22. ↑ Christopher Bates: Cruz Is Getting Nervous. In: Electoral-Vote.com , August 11, 2018.
  23. ↑ Jennifer E. Duffy: September Senate Overview: Three Ratings Changes. In: Cook Political Report , September 21, 2018.
  24. ↑ Texas Senate Election Results: Beto O'Rourke vs. Ted Cruz. In: The New York Times , November 7, 2018; Eric Bradner: Democrats nudge Beto O'Rourke toward 2020 run after closer-than-expected Texas race. In: CNN.com , November 9, 2018.
  25. ↑ Alexa Ura, Chris Essig, Darla Cameron: Are Texas suburbs slipping away from Republicans? In: Texas Tribune , November 7, 2018; Emma Platoff: Texas Democrats' biggest win on election night may have been the courts. In: Texas Tribune , November 8, 2018; Kirk Goldsberry: How Beto O'Rourke Shifted The Map In Texas. In: FiveThirtyEight , 14. November 2018.
  26. ↑ Patrick Svitek, Abby Livingston: How the race between Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke became the closest in Texas in 40 years. In: Texas Tribune , November 9, 2018; Justin Miller: How Beto Built His Texas-Sized Grassroots Machine. In: Texas Observer , December 3, 2018; Sasha Issenberg: Here's What Beto Could Unleash on Trump. In: Politico , February 22, 2019.
  27. ↑ Ben Schreckinger: Beto's consolation prize: Running for president. In: Politico , November 7, 2018; Eric Bradner: Democrats nudge Beto O'Rourke toward 2020 run after closer-than-expected Texas race. In: CNN.com , November 9, 2018.
  28. ^ Christopher Bates: Democratic Presidential Candidate of the Week: Beto O'Rourke. In: Electoral Vote , November 11, 2018.
  29. ↑ David Siders: 'He's Barack Obama, but white': Beto O'Rourke blows up the 2020 Democratic primary. In: Politico , November 19, 2018.
  30. ↑ Amie Parnes: Obama World lovefest for O'Rourke is growing. In: The Hill , November 28, 2018.
  31. ^ David Siders: Beto O'Rourke's road trip drives home his message. In: Politico , January 19, 2019.
  32. ^ David Siders: Beto announces bid for president. In: Politico , March 14, 2019; David Siders: How Beto shook off his funk and decided to run. In: Politico , March 14, 2019.
  33. ↑ FAZ.net: Beto O'Rourke no longer wants to be president
  34. ^ Joseph Menn: Beto O'Rourke's secret membership in America's oldest hacking group. In: Reuters , March 15, 2019.
  35. ^ Christopher Bates: Democratic Presidential Candidate of the Week: Beto O'Rourke. In: Electoral Vote , November 11, 2018.
  36. ↑ Julia Zorthian: The Future of Bipartisanship in Congress Might Be Road Trips. In: Time , March 16, 2017; Tessa Stuart: Beto O'Rourke: Ted Cruz's punk-rock problem. In: Rolling Stone , September 12, 2017.
  37. ^ David Wright: Beto O'Rourke's defense of anthem protests draws support from LeBron James. In: CNN.com , August 23, 2018; Daniel Borunda: Athletes, celebrities praise Beto O'Rourke's answer to NFL players kneeling during anthem. In: El Paso Times , August 23, 2018.
  38. ^ Matt Viser: Why So Many People Are Betting on Beto O'Rourke. In: Town & Country , July 26, 2018.
  39. ↑ Peter Hamby: “It Seems Like Iowa in 2007”: Is Beto O'Rourke the Left's Obama-Like Answer to Trump in 2020? In: Vanity Fair , August 29, 2018.
  40. ^ Dan Solomon: Texas Musicians Love Beto O'Rourke. In: Texas Monthly , September 28, 2018; Jeff Gage: Willie Nelson Rallies for Beto O'Rourke With Outlaw Classics, New Political Anthem. In: Rolling Stone , September 30, 2018; Benjamin Fearnow: Beto O'Rourke Had the Largest Political Rally for a Candidate Since the 2016 Election. In: Newsweek , October 30, 2018.
  41. ↑ Martin Farrer: El Paso: Beto O'Rourke blames 'racist' Trump for inflaming hatred. In: The Guardian. August 4, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME O'Rourke, Beto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES O'Rourke, Robert Francis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH September 26, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH El Paso , Texas