Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke (; born September 26, 1972) is an American politician who represented Texas's 16th congressional district in the United...
Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke (; born September 26, 1972) is an American politician who represented Texas's 16th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019. O'Rourke is most notable for his 2018 campaign for United States Senate, in which he lost to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz. He sought the 2020 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
O'Rourke was born into a local political family in El Paso, Texas, and is a graduate of Woodberry Forest School and Columbia University. While studying at Columbia, O'Rourke began a brief music career as bass guitarist in the post-hardcore band Foss. After his college graduation, he returned to El Paso and began a business career. In 2005, he was elected to the El Paso City Council, serving until 2011. O'Rourke was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 after defeating eight-term incumbent Democrat Silvestre Reyes in the primary.
After being re-elected to the House in 2014 and 2016, O'Rourke declined to seek re-election in 2018. Instead, he sought the U.S. Senate seat held by Cruz, running a competitive campaign that drew national attention. O'Rourke set a record for most votes ever cast for a Democrat in Texas history. On March 14, 2019, O'Rourke announced his campaign for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election. He suspended his campaign on November 1, 2019, before the primaries began.
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Newt Gingrich
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th Speaker of the United St...
Newton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 6th congressional district serving north Atlanta and nearby areas from 1979 until his resignation in 1999. In 2012, Gingrich unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.
A professor of history and geography at the University of West Georgia in the 1970s, Gingrich won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1978, the first Republican in the history of Georgia's 6th congressional district to do so. He served as House Minority Whip from 1989 to 1995. A co-author and architect of the "Contract with America", Gingrich was a major leader in the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional election. In 1995, Time named him "Man of the Year" for "his role in ending the four-decades-long Democratic majority in the House".As House Speaker, Gingrich oversaw passage by the House of welfare reform and a capital gains tax cut in 1997. Gingrich played a key role in several government shutdowns, and impeached President Clinton on a party-line vote in the House. The poor showing by Republicans in the 1998 Congressional elections, a reprimand from the House for Gingrich's ethics violation, pressure from Republican colleagues, and revelations of an extramarital affair with a congressional employee 23 years his junior resulted in Gingrich's resignation from the speakership on November 6, 1998. He resigned altogether from the House on January 3, 1999. Political scientists have credited Gingrich with playing a key role in undermining democratic norms in the United States and hastening political polarization and partisanship.Since leaving the House, Gingrich has remained active in public policy debates and worked as a political consultant. He founded and chaired several policy think tanks, including American Solutions for Winning the Future and the Center for Health Transformation. Gingrich ran for the Republican nomination for President in the 2012 presidential election, and was considered a potential frontrunner at several points in the race. Despite an impressive late victory in the South Carolina primary, Gingrich was ultimately unable to win enough primaries to sustain a viable candidacy, he withdrew from the race in May 2012 and endorsed eventual nominee Mitt Romney. Gingrich later emerged as a key ally of Donald Trump, and was reportedly among the finalists on Trump's short list for running mate in the 2016 election.
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