Soros donates $1 million to O’Rourke’s campaign for Texas governor

American businessman George Soros has donated $1 million to Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke’s (D) campaign. 

The Texas Ethics Commission confirmed Soros’s donation to O’Rourke’s Beto for Texas political action committee in its filing report published on Tuesday. 

A spokesperson for O’Rourke’s campaign confirmed Soros’s donation to the gubernatorial candidate to The Hill.

The 91-year-old billionaire made the campaign donation a day before the Supreme Court’s decision last month to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established abortion as a constitutional right.

Soros slammed the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe, saying in a tweet that the decision “diminishes human rights.” 

Texas is among several states to enact a trigger law banning abortion following the Supreme Court’s ruling. 

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn #RoeVWade ends federal protections for abortion, diminishes human rights, and greatly threatens reproductive care,” Soros wrote in his tweet. “We have invested in reproductive rights organizations that are fighting back at this moment.” 

A University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs poll released last week showed that O’Rourke, who unsuccessfully tried to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2018, is trailing 5 points behind Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in the state’s gubernatorial race. 

The poll also found that 5 percent of Abbott supporters and 8 percent of O’Rourke supporters said they would consider changing their vote for November’s election.

Respondents to the poll cited inflation, public safety concerns, government spending and taxes, health care costs, and economic growth as important issues in making their choice in the gubernatorial race.