Texas AFL-CIO declines to endorse O'Rourke after he misses convention

The political arm of the Texas AFL-CIO has declined to endorse U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, in his campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after O'Rourke did not appear at its convention this weekend in Austin.

On Sunday, the labor group released a list of statewide candidates it had decided to support, and it offered no endorsement in the Senate race. The group's constitution requires two-thirds support to endorse a candidate, and O'Rourke did not make the cut, said Rick Levy, the president of the Texas AFL-CIO.

"I think that our members don’t like to be just taken for granted," Levy told The Texas Tribune. "Just because you have a D or an R behind your name doesn’t determine whether you’ll have our support."

O'Rourke said in an interview that his campaign had tried to find a way for him to make it to the convention, but he was unable to attend because he had previously scheduled campaign events elsewhere in the state. He ended up canceling those events, though, because he was stuck in Washington, D.C., over the weekend due to the government shutdown.

Read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2018/01/21/texas-afl-cio-declines-endorse-orourke-after-he-misses-convention/1052786001/