Beto O'Rourke's rich father-in-law has both helped and complicated his career - PBS NewaHour [View all]

[question everything]

EL PASO, Texas — Beto O’Rourke was running for the El Paso City Council in 2005 when he asked to meet with the illustrious real estate investor William Sanders.

Sanders had earned a fortune in Chicago before returning to his remote hometown on the West Texas-Mexico border. He thought O’Rourke wanted a donation.

But O’Rourke, now vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, was actually seeking permission to marry Sanders’ daughter Amy. And after he secured it, his future father-in-law began talking at length about her previous boyfriend.

“It was a very awkward — very, very awkward — conversation,” O’Rourke recalled in a phone interview.

Worth at least $500 million according to a conservative Forbes estimate, Sanders has helped make Beto and Amy O’Rourke millionaires. O’Rourke won his city council race and briefly supported an ambitious, though controversial and ultimately unsuccessful, plan to redevelop downtown El Paso that Sanders was leading. Later, Sanders’ timely donation helped transform his son-in-law from longshot primary challenger to congressman, setting him up to nearly upset U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz last year and catapult him into the presidential race.

O’Rourke’s campaign says Sanders plays no role. Still, O’Rourke might never have made it on the national stage without the help of the intensely private tycoon.

More..

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/beto-orourkes-rich-father-in-law-has-both-helped-and-complicated-his-career

I think that it is scheduled to be aired this evening.