10 Facts About Pat O'Rourke

Pat Francis O'Rourke was an American businessman and politician based in El Paso, Texas.

Pat O'Rourke had a half-sister from his mother's previous marriage.

Pat O'Rourke's great-grandfather, Bernard O'Rourke, was an Irish Catholic railway worker originally from Glencar, County Leitrim and naturalized as an American citizen in 1868.

Pat O'Rourke attended Davy Crocket Elementary School and Austin High School before graduating from New Mexico Military Institute.

Pat O'Rourke got his undergraduate degree at Texas Western University and took courses at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Pat O'Rourke lost his first two races, for a seat on the El Paso Community College Board of Trustees in 1972 and for a seat on the El Paso Community College Board of Trustees in 1976.

Pat O'Rourke did not seek re-election saying publicly among other reasons, his wife and family did not wish him to run again.

In February 1983 while Pat O'Rourke was out of state on vacation, El Paso County Sheriff's deputies, who were installing a two-way radio in Pat O'Rourke's vehicle, discovered a tied condom containing an off-white powder they believed to be either cocaine or heroin.

Pat O'Rourke served as state co-chairman for Jesse Jackson during Jackson's 1988 bid in the Democratic presidential primary having supported Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign.

Pat O'Rourke was defeated in the primary runoff by Chip Taberski in April 1992.