Marijuana Legalization Advocate Wins Texas Congressional PrimaryPhilip Smith According to election results from the Texas Secretary of States office early Wednesday morning, ORourke had picked up 51.3% of the vote to Reyes 41.3%, meaning ORourke also avoids the need for a run-off election. ORourke is a vocal marijuana legalization supporter, while Reyes, a former Border Patrol official, has built a career on tough on the border and tough on drugs politics. ORourke garnered national attention in 2009, when he championed a council resolution calling for a national conversation on legalizing and regulating drugs as a possible solution to the drug cartel violence just over El Pasos border in Mexico. The mayor vetoed the unanimously-passed resolution and the council was set to override the veto until Congressman Reyes threatened that the city would lose federal funding if it insisted on pushing the legalization conversation. The override vote failed, but ORourke has managed to use the issue as a launching pad for his campaign against what had been a heavily-favored incumbent. Having won the Democratic primary almost certainly assures ORourke of victory in November. The district is solid Democratic, having sent Reyes to Washington in the last eight elections. But now, El Paso will be sending a drug reformer, not a drug warrior, to Congress. (This article was published by StoptheDrugWar.orgs lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.) linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 