Incumbent Democratic Congressman Silvestre Reyes Defeated by Marijuana Legalization Candidate
[link:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/29/beto-orourke-marijuana-_n_1554661.html|A Texas congressional candidate who favors marijuana legalization beat eight-term incumbent El Paso Rep. Silvestre Reyes Tuesday in the Democratic primary for the congressional district closest to Mexico's Ciudad Juarez.
In unofficial results, Beto O'Rourke scored 23,248 votes for 50.5 percent of the vote, clearing the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. Reyes tallied 44.4 percent. The 2012 Democratic primary boasted more than 10,000 additional voters over 2010, sending turnout up from 9.8 percent to 14.2 percent.
"Can you all just confirm for me that this is really happening?" O'Rourke asked a crowd at his victory party after the results came in, according to the El Paso Times. "I want to thank all of you for making this possible."
Reyes was less exuberant in defeat, slamming "my opponent who deliberately ran a nasty, dirty campaign."
The race received national attention because of O'Rourke's position in support of marijuana legalization. In his second term as an El Paso city representative, O'Rourke pushed for a resolution calling for a re-examination of the drug war, which has killed tens of thousands in neighboring Mexico over the past decade. He also co-authored a book on the same subject.
The drug war is "a failure," O'Rourke told HuffPost in April, adding that marijuana is "the cornerstone of the cartel economy" and thus fuels the violence in El Paso's sister city.]
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