Beto O'Rourke Woos LA Labor Leaders, Hollywood Money

LOS ANGELES, CA — Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke discussed his proposals to create a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission and make naturalization easier for 9 million eligible immigrants in a meeting with labor leaders Wednesday in Los Angeles.

O'Rourke also discussed education and strengthening labor unions in his second trip to the Los Angeles area as a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

O'Rourke later spoke at a campaign fundraiser at the Hollywood Hills home of attorneys Lindsay Berger Sacks and her husband Brian Sacks. Portions of his speech were streamed on the campaign's Facebook page.

Tickets were $500 for the general reception and $2,800 for the host reception, according to an invitation obtained by City News Service.

The higher figure corresponds with the maximum individual contribution to a presidential primary campaign.

The event's host committee included film mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez and dramatist and television producer Winnie Holzman and her actor husband Paul Dooley.

Katzenberg was a co-host of a May fundraiser for former Vice President Joe Biden.

Rodriguez introduced O'Rourke at an April 27 speech at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and campaigned for him in Texas last year in his recent unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate.

O'Rourke sent a fundraising email Wednesday in response to a tweet by Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel that President Donald Trump had raised $24.8 million following his announcement Tuesday that he would seek a second term, a figure O'Rourke called "a frightening amount of money."

O'Rourke's Southland visit came one day after the "NBC Nightly News" aired an interview with him as part of its "My Big Idea" series. O'Rourke described his "big idea" as "fix our democracy and return power to the people."

"My idea is to ensure we have a new Voting Rights Act, same day and automatic voter registration," O'Rourke told Harry Smith. "We end the process of gerrymandering, whereby members of Congress choose their voters instead of the other way around."

The 46-year-old O'Rourke will next speak Friday at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials' Presidential Candidate Forum in Miami.

City News Service