Former United States Representative & Founder of Powered by People
Beto O'Rourke: Biography at a Glance
- Beto O'Rourke is a former United States Representative and founder of Powered by People, a Texas-based organization that works to expand democracy through voter registration and direct voter engagement.
- In 2021, Beto announced the launch of a "drive-to-you" voter registration tool that allows eligible Texans to register to vote from home by deploying volunteers to their houses when requested.
- Beto served two terms on the El Paso City Council before running for U.S. Congress in 2012, taking on a 16-year incumbent and winning.
- In Congress, he successfully enacted laws that improved access to health care for veterans, added urgent mental health resources for service members, and permanently protected thousands of acres of natural land.
- As a leading voice on immigration and a lifelong advocate for the U.S.-Mexico border, Beto organized a 2,000-person Father’s Day march to Tornillo to raise awareness of family separation.
- In his book, We've Got to Try, Beto connects voting rights and democracy to other major issues of our time and shares what he saw, heard, and learned while on his own campaign journey.
Videos
Biography
Beto O’Rourke is a fourth-generation Texan, born and raised in El Paso where he has served as a small business owner, a city council representative, and a member of Congress. He founded and currently leads Powered by People, a Texas-based organization that works to expand democracy and produce Democratic victories through voter registration and direct voter engagement. Powered by People has helped register over 250,000 unregistered Texans to vote since its inception in December 2019.
Beto is married to Amy O’Rourke and together they are raising Ulysses, Molly and Henry in El Paso’s historic Sunset Heights.
Topics
We've Got to Try: How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible
With heart, eloquence, and powerful storytelling, O’Rourke weaves together the stories of great Texans who changed the course of voting rights and improved America’s democracy. While connecting voting rights and democracy to the major issues of our time, O’Rourke also shares what he saw, heard, and learned while on his own journey campaigning throughout the 254 counties of his home state. By telling the stories of those he met along the way and bringing his audience into the epicenter of the current fight against voter suppression, the former El Paso Congressman shows just how essential it is that the sacred right to vote is protected and that we each do our part to save our democracy for generations to come.
Creating Our Future: How Young Voters Will Change the World
Beto O'Rourke is confident that young people have the power to make a real difference in our democracy, to determine whether we will even have one. But he wants to be clear that the power only exists if they choose to use it.
In this passion-filled and inspiring talk, Beto encourages young people to lead on the issues that matter most and become the driving force in our civic life. Using examples of young revolutionaries, activists, and youth-led movements that changed what was possible during pivotal times like the civil rights era, Beto paints a picture of how we get closer to the future of our dreams.
