AUSTIN, Tex.—Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Tex.), who failed to win the Texas AFL-CIO’s endorsement for his
Senate race after he didn’t appear at its Committee on Political Education’s convention Jan. 19-21, is seeking another chance at the 240,000-member federation’s nod. O’Rourke, one of three Democrats hoping to unseat Republican Ted Cruz, had said he’d try to fit it in, but cancelled a campaign trip to Texas that weekend because of the battle over the government shutdown. Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said unions didn’t want to endorse O’Rourke until they’d had a chance to ask him about his support for fast-tracking approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and how he would preserve employees’ rights in the revamping of the Veterans Administration. “Just because somebody has a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ by their names doesn’t tell the story of whether they are going to be fighting for us,” Levy told the San Antonio Express-News. “It’s just people wanting to check, is he really going to be there for us? People didn’t have an opportunity to do that.” COPE counts O’Rourke’s lifetime voting record as 95% pro-labor, while Cruz’s is 12%. “People are also aware that Ted Cruz is an abomination,” Levy added. Read more
