Beto O\'Rourke is running for president in 2020. Here\'s everything we know about the candidate and how he stacks up against the competition

PLYMOUTH, NH - MARCH 20: Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke looks on during a meet and greet at Plymouth State College on March 20, 2019 in Plymouth, New Hampshire. After losing a long-shot race for U.S. Senate to Ted Cruz (R-TX), the 46-year-old O'Rourke is making his first campaign swing through New Hampshire after jumping into a crowded Democratic field. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)Beto O'Rourke.Scott Eisen/Getty Images

Who is Beto O'Rourke?

Current job: Candidate for of the president of the United States.

Age: 46

Family: O'Rourke's wife is named Amy. They have two sons, Ulysses and Henry, as well as a daughter, Molly.

Hometown: El Paso, Texas.

Political party: Democratic

Previous jobs: Representative for Texas' 16th congressional district from 2013 to 2019; El Paso city council member 2005-2011; Co-founder of software and internet services company Stanton Street Technology Group, which his wife now runs.

Who is Beto O'Rourke's direct competition for the nomination?

Based on a recurring series of national surveys we conduct, we can figure out who the other candidates competing in Beto O'Rourke's lane are, and who the broader opponents are within the party.

  • Respondents who would be satisfied with O'Rourke as nominee liked Joe Biden, an already popular candidate, even more than the general set of respondents who said they were registered to vote and would participate in the Democratic primary. All told, 72% of those happy with O'Rourke as nominee would also be happy with Biden as nominee a figure that exceeds the 66% of Democrats that would be happy with the former Veep atop the ticket.

Beto O'RourkeBusiness Insider

  • O'Rourke fans would also be happy with Senators Kamala Harris or Elizabeth Warren, with fans of O'Rourke more likely to be happy with those contenders as nomine than your typical respondent.
INSIDER has been conducting a recurring poll through SurveyMonkey Audience on a national sample to find out how different candidate's constituencies overlap. We ask people whether they are familiar with a candidate, whether they would be satisfied or unsatisfied with that candidate as nominee, and sometimes we also ask whether they think that person would win or lose in a general election against President Donald Trump.

Read more about how we're polling this here.

What are Beto O'Rourke's political positions?

  • On healthcare:
  • On immigration:
  • On climate change:
  • On campaign finance:
    • On abortion:
    • On LGBTQ rights:
      • O'Rourke supports marriage equality.
      • He has supported transgender Americans being allowed to serve in the US military.
    • On education:
    • On Supreme Court and congressional issues:
    • On guns:
    • On criminal justice reform:
    • On trade:
      • O'Rourke has spoken out against the Trump administration's practice of placing tariffs on the steel and aluminum industries, saying during a Texas Senate debate they will "devastate our state, businesses, & economy."
      • He was a cosponsor on the Promoting US Jobs Through Exports Act of 2015, which sought to raise caps on outstanding loans and insurance for the Export-Import Bank.
    • On foreign policy:
      • O'Rourke supported the Iran Nuclear Deal from the Barack Obama administration, from which President Donald Trump has since departed.
      • He called Trump's defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit in Helsinki, Finland "collusion in action" and has regularly called for taking a harsher stance toward Russian aggression.
    • On taxes:
      • O'Rourke voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which Republicans passed to lower taxes on individuals and corporations, eliminate deductions, but was not revenue neutral.

    What are Beto O'Rourke's political successes?

    • In 2013, O'Rourke authored a part of the 2013 appropriations bill that advanced tuition assistance for members of the US armed forces.
    • O'Rourke was the driving force behind the Honor Our Commitment Act, which is now law. The law expands mental health coverage at the Department of Veterans' Affairs for veterans with "bad paper" discharges.
    • Trump signed O'Rourke's Express Appeals Act into law in 2017. The law started a program at the Department of Veterans' Affairs to streamline the appeals process for disability compensation.
    • He is a prolific fundraiser and a sought after commodity for Democrats looking to receive an endorsement in down-ballot races.

    How much money has Beto O'Rourke raised?

    In the first 24 hours since the start of his campaign, O'Rourke raised $6.1 million from 128,000 different donations, averaging $48 per contribution. This easily cemented his placement in the Democratic primary debates, as candidates must reach at least 65,000 individual contributions or clear 1% in at least three separate polls.

    Could Beto O'Rourke beat President Trump?

    Referring back to INSIDER's recurring poll, Beto O'Rourke overall is believed to be a stronger candidate in a general election against Donald Trump than your typical Democrat. While a majority were unsure how Beto would fare in the general, among those who said they were probably Democratic primary voters, just over two-in-five said they thought Beto would win, 6 percentage points higher than the overall average for the Democrats we asked about.

    Read more of our stories on Beto O'Rourke:

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