Texas’ AFL-CIO has changed its mind and endorsed Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, who is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, this fall.
“In the last few weeks, Beto O’Rourke has crisscrossed the state, talking to our members and answering tough questions about where he stands on key issues for working people,” Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said in a statement.
The union’s decision Friday to embrace O’Rourke, the favorite to win the Democratic primary, was a reversal from a commitment it made to not endorse any candidate in the 2018 Senate election.
O’Rourke miffed Levy after O’Rourke missed the group’s annual convention in Austin, and he told the Texas Tribune last month, “I think that our members don’t like to be just taken for granted.”
O’Rourke blamed scheduling conflicts as the reason for missing the event.
