O'Rourke's 'life-long Republican' mother voted in 15 of last 17 Democrat primaries

Washington Times:

Rep. Beto O’Rourke often touts his mother in speeches and interviews as a lifelong Republican, who now supports his effort to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Not really.

According to a CNN report Tuesday, Melissa O’Rourke is a frequent voter in Democratic primaries who donated to Barack Obama before he became president.

“Melissa O’Rourke has largely voted in Democratic primaries in Texas since 2000, and she has donated money to candidates from both parties. She donated to Cruz and Republican Mitt Romney in 2012, but she also previously donated to the presidential campaign of then-Democratic Sen. Barack Obama in 2007,” CNN reported.

Mrs. O’Rourke told CNN that “for the most part I have voted Republican probably nationally and then more regionally, more Democrats.”

She attributed her turn to Democratic voting and donation in recent years to President Trump and his rhetoric on the border wall and immigration, which she said are “so far right. It’s just — there’s no humanity.”

But according to CNN, Mrs. O’Rourke cast a ballot on the Democratic side of 15 of the last 17 primaries in which she voted, including Democratic primaries that included presidential contests as far back as 2000. Texas is an open-primary state.
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She also donated money to the Obama campaign.

I suspect that O'Rourke uses this "story" about his mom to try to sway GOP voters into supporting him because he knows Democrats make up a minority of voters in the state of Texas and he would need Republican votes to win.  It appears to be a misleading characterization.