Beto O’Rourke is dropping out of the presidential race

Author: CAROLINE LINTON, CBS News Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published:
Beto O’Rourke (CBS News via Getty Images)

Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke of Texas announced Friday he is dropping out of the presidential race. “Though it is difficult to accept, it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully,” O’Rourke wrote on Medium.

Although O’Rourke had been struggling recently, he had been scheduled to speak Friday night at the Iowa Democratic Party dinner along with the other candidates in the race. He was also scheduled to file his official candidacy in New Hampshire next week.

He had not yet qualified for the November debate. Despite his early fundraising success, he had struggled to reach the poll deadline in all the debates.

A spokesman for O’Rourke told The New York Times that O’Rourke will not be running for Texas’ Senate seat. There had been public pressure for him to challenge Republican John Cornyn in 2020.

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

A three-term Congressman from El Paso, O’Rourke was a rising star after the 2018 Senate race, where he won more votes than any other Democrat in Texas history.

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