Democrat Beto O’Rourke drops his 2020 presidential bid

WASHINGTON — Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman, announced Friday that he was ending his Democratic presidential campaign, which failed to recapture the enthusiasm, interest and fundraising prowess of his 2018 Senate race.

In an online post, O’Rourke said, “My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee.” He was scheduled to address supporters later Friday at an event in Iowa, where many of his supporters were blindsided by his announcement.

O’Rourke was urged to run for president by many Democrats, including supporters of former President Barack Obama, who were energized by his narrow Senate loss last year in Texas, a reliably Republican state. He raised an astonishing amount of money from small donors across the country, visited every county in Texas and used social media and livestreaming video to engage directly with voters. He ultimately lost to incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz by 3 percentage points.

But O’Rourke struggled to replicate that model in the presidential primary, and both his polling and his fundraising dwindled significantly in recent months.

He also struggled with consistent vision and messaging as a presidential candidate.

O’Rourke did not endorse another Democrat for the nomination, saying “I’m going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is.”

President Donald Trump quickly weighed in, saying in a tweet: “Oh no, Beto just dropped out of race for President despite him saying he was ‘born for this.’ I don’t think so!”