Beto O’Rourke Drops Out of the Presidential Race

And despite the near-heroic status he achieved in the eyes of Democratic voters as a daring challenger to a Republican they loathed — Mr. Cruz — Mr. O’Rourke found it far more difficult to stand out from a crop of presidential candidates that included other young orators, like Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., and determined progressives like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Mr. O’Rourke also came under harsh attack in a June debate from Julián Castro, the former housing secretary and a fellow Texan, who blasted Mr. O’Rourke from the left on immigration. Mr. O’Rourke, who was not an especially strong debater in his Senate campaign, appeared badly caught off guard.

To Mr. O’Rourke and his allies, it has been evident for some time that he was confronting a vanishingly slim path forward. At the last Democratic debate, a pair of Mr. O’Rourke’s donors flew to Ohio to meet with him about his campaign and the possibility of him quitting the race to run for Senate in Texas against John Cornyn, who is up for re-election. Mr. O’Rourke told them he was not running for Senate, according to people familiar with the matter.

A spokesman to Mr. O’Rourke reiterated that stance on Friday.

“Beto will not be a candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas in 2020,” said Rob Friedlander, an aide to Mr. O’Rourke.

It is unclear whether Mr. O’Rourke’s exit will have a significant impact on the larger shape of the Democratic primary race. In a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Friday, Mr. O’Rourke was supported by just 1 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa. He had not yet met the thresholds for participating in the upcoming primary debates in November and December.

Mr. O’Rourke may find — as other former candidates have done — that the good will of his fellow Democrats returns quickly once he is no longer a competitor for the nomination. He is 47 years old, leaving him plenty of time to consider a return to electoral politics. But in a recent interview with Politico, Mr. O’Rourke said that if he did not prevail in the 2020 presidential primary he would not become a candidate again.

“I cannot fathom a scenario where I would run for public office again if I’m not the nominee,” Mr. O’Rourke said last month.

Shane Goldmacher contributed reporting from New York and Matt Flegenheimer and Katie Glueck from Des Moines, Iowa.

Source link