Beto O’Rourke
Bio | Beto O’ Rourke is an American politician who served as Texas’s 16th congressional district. |
Status and Position | Current US House of Representatives of Texas |
Political Party and Jurisdiction | Democrat, Texas |
Elections | Election Jurisdiction | Started Campaign | Campaign Status | Poll Rankings (of the vote) |
| 2020 Presidential Election United States | United States | Yes | Dropped Out | N/A |
Campaign Financing | O’Rourke is refusing campaign contributions from fossil fuel industry donors, PACs, and federal lobbyists. He believes that corporate interests have no place in government, and would support legislation to reduce the influence of money in politics. |
Voting Rights | O’Rourke is supportive of a number of reforms that would solidify voting rights in the United States. He is supportive of proposals for a New Voting Rights Act, and would support legislation to prohibit political gerrymandering. He believes that the process of registering to vote should be simplified, and supports implementing federal standards to provide automatic voter registration and allow for same-day voter registration and pre-registration for teenagers. He would also make Election Day a national holiday. |
Opinions on Issues
Issues | Stance | Summary |
| Universal Healthcare | For | He believes in moving toward universal health care coverage. O'Rourke believes in the need for universal healthcare, but prefers the Medicare for America plan over Medicare-for-All. This pan would allow for more consumer choice, and would enable private insurance to exist alongside the Medicare program. O’Rourke supports proposals to allow for pharmaceuticals to be imported from other countries for consumers to purchase at lower costs. He has also released a plan to lower maternal mortality rates by allocating more resources to ‘maternal health deserts’. |
| Socialized Healthcare | For | He is in favor of providing a socialized healthcare option. |
| Private Healthcare | For | He believes that Americans should be able to choose private healthcare. |
| LGBT Rights | For | He promotes LGBT rights. O’Rourke believes in the importance of LGBT rights. He supports anti-discrimination legislation such as the Equality Act, and has said that if elected, he would immediately overturn Trump-era policy that prohibited transgender individuals from serving in the military. |
| Taxes | For | He favors taxes. If elected, O’Rourke would reverse the 2017 GOP tax cuts and bring the top marginal tax rate back up to 39% and increase the corporate tax rate to 28%. He also has advocated to tax capital gains at the same rate as income. |
| Flat Tax Rate | Unknown | He does not have a clear position on this issue. If elected, O’Rourke would reverse the 2017 GOP tax cuts and bring the top marginal tax rate back up to 39% and increase the corporate tax rate to 28%. He also has advocated to tax capital gains at the same rate as income. |
| Abortion | For | He supports abortion. O’Rourke believes in the importance of reproductive rights, and as president, would appoint pro-choice judges and encourage legislation to expand abortion access. He supports repealing the Hyde Amendment to allow for the use of federal funds for abortion services. He also supports requirements for insurance providers to cover reproductive services such as contraception and abortion. |
| Gun Control | For | He supports gun control. O’Rourke is a strong advocate for gun control, and has released a plan outlining the multiple policies he would seek to implement if elected president. He is supportive of conventional proposals, such as universal background checks and bans on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bump stocks. He would implement a mandatory national buyback program for assault weapons and a voluntary buyback program for handguns. O’Rourke would also seek to implement a national gun licensing program, which would require individuals to complete a firearm safety course before being able to purchase a firearm. Licenses would only be available to those over the age of 21, with the exception of those with hunting licenses, who would be purchasing a firearm for hunting purposes. O’Rourke has said he would be willing to use executive action to prohibit the 3-D printing of firearms, make gun trafficking a federal crime, and increase oversight on gun manufacturers and dealers. He would also allocate $320 million into researching solutions to gun violence. |
| Assisted Suicide | Unknown | He does not have a position on assisted suicide. O’Rourke is a strong advocate for gun control, and has released a plan outlining the multiple policies he would seek to implement if elected president. He is supportive of conventional proposals, such as universal background checks and bans on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and bump stocks. He would implement a mandatory national buyback program for assault weapons and a voluntary buyback program for handguns. O’Rourke would also seek to implement a national gun licensing program, which would require individuals to complete a firearm safety course before being able to purchase a firearm. Licenses would only be available to those over the age of 21, with the exception of those with hunting licenses, who would be purchasing a firearm for hunting purposes. O’Rourke has said he would be willing to use executive action to prohibit the 3-D printing of firearms, make gun trafficking a federal crime, and increase oversight on gun manufacturers and dealers. He would also allocate $320 million into researching solutions to gun violence. |
| Government Interference | For | He is willing to tolerate government interference. |
| Planned Parenthood | For | He supports Planned Parenthood. |
| Welfare | For | He supports welfare. O’Rourke is generally supportive of welfare programs. As a Representative, he voted to reduce work requirements for welfare recipients, and sponsored a bill supporting the SNAP (food stamp) program. |
| Welfare | Unknown | He does not have a stance on this issue. |
| Death Penalty | Nuance | He has a nuanced position on the death penalty. O’Rourke supports a myriad of criminal justice reform measures. He would seek to reduce mass incarceration by decriminalizing marijuana on the federal level and expunging the records of those charged with marijuana-related offenses. He would also seek to abolish the cash bail system, prohibit private prisons, and eradicate mandatory minimums for non-violent offenses. O’Rourke also believes that more support should be given to individuals reentering society from prison; he would support measures to ‘ban the box’, making it easier for felons to gain employment after their release, and would make Pell Grants available to incarcerated individuals so that they are able to access education. |
| Mandatory Prison Sentence | Against | He opposes mandatory minimum sentences. |
| Military Spending | Unknown | He does not have a clear stance on this issue. |
| War on Terrorism | Against | He would like to withdraw troops in the Middle East. |
| Foreign Policy International Interaction | Against | He generally supports diminishing the US' presence internationally. O’Rourke has outlined a number of foreign policy initiatives he would pursue if elected. These include reducing military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan in a conscious way that would avoid the creation of power vacuums, rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and working to achieve a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. He would also recommit to global allies and institutions such as NATO. |
| United Nations power | Unknown | He does not have a clear stance on this issue. |
| Nationalism | Against | O'Rourke sees white nationalism as a threat. |
| Free Markets | Against | He opposes free markets. O’Rourke has vocally opposed many of the Trump Administration’s protectionist trade measures. He also opposed the decision to withdraw from NAFTA. He has not outlined any trade policies that his administration would commit to if elected. |
| Brexit | Unknown | He does not have an explicit stance on Brexit. |
| Affirmative Action | Unknown | He does not have a clear stance on this issue. |
| Government Spending | For | He supports government spending. |
| Charter Schools | Against | He is a proponent of public schools rather than education. |
| Common Core | Nuance | He has a varied view on education. O’Rourke supports initiatives to provide universal pre-k and free community college in the United States, but has not embraced more progressive proposals for entirely universal education. He believes that the federal government should increase support for public schools, and would appoint an individual who has experience working in public schools as Secretary of Education. |
| Clean Energy | For | He promotes renewable energy. O’Rourke is a strong advocate for climate action, and has released a comprehensive plan to address the threat of climate change. This plan, similar to the Green New Deal, would invest trillions of dollars into green infrastructure projects and the development of clean energy and agriculture solutions. It would also aim to achieve net-zero emissions in the United States by 2050. O’Rourke would also recommit to the Paris Climate Agreement. O’Rourke's climate plan also outlines some of the environmental regulations his administration would seek to implement and restore. These include the implementation of restrictions to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, improved building-efficiency standards, increased clean air and water standards, and increased support for initiatives to protect public lands. |
| Religious Freedom | Nuance | His position on religious freedom varies. O’Rourke is supporter of religious freedom, but does not believe it should be able to be used as a justification for discrimination. He opposed the Trump Administration’s travel bans for alleged religious discrimination against Muslim individuals. |
| Separation of Church and State | For | He supports the separation of church and state. |
| Slavery Reparations | For | He advocates for reparations. |
| Border Control | Against | He opposes increased border control. O’Rourke, who represented the border community of El Paso in Congress, has made immigration one of his signature issues. If elected, O’Rourke would use executive action to immediately end the practice of family separation and reverse the Trump Administration’s travel bans. He would also seek to change the requirements for detainment so that only those that would pose a direct threat to public safety would need to be detained. He supports providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and adamantly opposes proposals for a border wall, which he says would be disruptive to border communities such as his own. He would instead focus border security efforts on addressing the threats of human trafficking and the smuggling of weapons and illicit substances. To reduce undocumented immigration, he would seek to address the root causes of migration from Latin America. O’Rourke also believes strongly that legal immigration is an asset to the United States, and would thus increase visa and refugee caps. |
| Passenger Profiling | Unknown | He has not taken a strong stance on this issue. |
| DACA | For | He hopes to uphold DACA. |
| Sanctuary Cities | Unknown | He does not have a clear stance on sanctuary cities. |
| Legalizing Marijuana | For | O’Rourke supports decriminalizing marijuana federally. |