- Beto O'Rourke is dropping out of the 2020 presidential race.
- He also won't run for the Senate in 2020 against Texas Sen. John Cornyn.
- O'Rourke emerged as a promising young candidate who competed well in a difficult statewide race against Sen. Ted Cruz in a state that has long eluded Democrats.
Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke will end his campaign for the presidency, The New York Times is reporting.
The ex-congressman was launched on to the national stage three years ago when he staged a competitive challenge to incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in a state that has long been firmly held in GOP hands. His near-miss in that campaign had many Texans and national Democrats speculating as to whether he would make a second run at the upper house of Congress, but the El Paso-based O'Rourke instead mounted a presidential campaign.
"My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee," O'Rourke told The Times.
Despite early attention, O'Rourke was not able to capitalize on the early buzz and instead gradually fell in the polls.
He repeatedly cleared the threshold to appear on the televised debate stages but was unable to capitalize on that politically. The former congressman's most prominent moments on the national stage came in the wake of a mass shooting in his hometown of El Paso, Texas.