Rep Beto O'Rourke, Ted Cruz's challenger for the Texas Junior Senator seat this November, is trying to cultivate that image of an Everyman--he drives a Toyota Tundra (made in Texas!), he skateboards in Whataburger parking lots, and he sweats!
He tries to paint his opponent and rich and evil, like all Republicans
But, when you compare net worths, who is richer?
Let's face it, Congress is full of really, really rich people. Richard (DaNang Dick) Blumenthal got his money the old fashioned way--he married it his $70 million. GOP representative Darrel Issa (R-CA) is worth about $280 million. He invented the VIPER radar detector and car alarms.
And then there's Beto. He's worth about $10 million (or at least he was in 2015). This put him at #51 out of 435 House members. In other words, he's in the top 12%.
Ted Cruz, on the other hand, ranks #41 out of 100 senators, with a net worth of about $4 million.
So Beto wants us to believe that he's just like you. His dad was a county judge; his mom owned a furniture store. Apparently, mom and dad did well enough to send him to a very posh boarding school in Virginia and then on to get a degree from an Ivy League institution, Columbia University.
To his credit, he did co-found a web development company after he bounced around New York doing his punk rock thing after college. So, there's something.
After his father’s death in 2001, O’Rourke became co-owner of the Imperial Arms, an 18-unit El Paso apartment complex valued in financial disclosure records at up to $5 million. He sold that shortly before launching his Senate bid to Patricia “Isha” Rogers, who has contributed more than $11,000 to O’Rourke campaigns since 2012.
Isn't that special? Got a nice inheritance from daddy. Sounds a bit like Donald Trump's dad giving him a $1 million loan.
And then, Beto did the typical Democrat politician thing--he married the daughter of one of the biggest property developers in El Paso. Then he ran for City Council, and helped his dad-in-law make a ton of money as the beneficiary of eminent domain.
Ted Cruz, on the other hand, really did earn his money. By the time he went to college at Princeton, his dad's company was in bankruptcy, and money was tight.
But hey, Beto drives a truck, he skateboards, and he sweats. Just like you.
Sandra Peterson
Follow me on Twitter @janevonmises
HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 08: Democratic Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke addresses supporters during a campaign rally at White Oak Music Hall on October 8, 2018 in Houston, Texas. O'Rourke is running against incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the midterm elections. (Photo by Loren Elliott/Getty Images)