A viewer asked KHOU 11 News to verify a claim made in a political attack ad about Beto O’Rourke, who is running for senate against Ted Cruz.
THE QUESTION
The viewer emailed, “Did Beto really use eminent domain to get a property for his relative? Or is this fake news.”
The question refers to a project proposed 12 years ago in El Paso, when O’Rourke was a city councilman. It was a revitalization plan pushed by developers, which included O’Rourke’s father-in-law.
The plan faced resistance from the beginning, because residents wondered how the City would acquire the land for the project. Eminent domain was on the table.
Several news articles from 2005 and 2006 show O’Rourke did support the project, and even faced ethics complaints as a result.
THE ANSWER
However, because of the perceived conflict of interest, O’Rourke recused himself from several key votes on the project, according to city council minutes from 2006.
On top of that, the redevelopment plan never actually happened.
For those reasons, KHOU 11 News can verify the viewer question is false.
O’Rourke didn’t use eminent domain to get a property for his relative, because the City of El Paso didn’t use eminent domain to get any property for the failed project.