Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke is ending his 2020 presidential campaign. The New York Times was the first to report the story.
Mr. O’Rourke made the decision to quit the race in the middle of this week, on the eve of a gathering Friday of Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, according to people familiar with his thinking.
[...]
Mr. O’Rourke planned to announce his withdrawal from the race in Iowa on Friday evening and follow up with an email message to his supporters. In that message, a draft of which was reviewed by The New York Times, Mr. O’Rourke said he was proud of championing issues like guns and climate change but conceded that his campaign lacked “the means to move forward successfully.”
O’Rourke, who rose to nationwide prominence during an amazing campaign against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, will not run for the Senate in 2020, the Times reports. Politico’s David Siders reported in August that O’Rourke was committed to the presidency or nothing, saying “I cannot fathom a scenario where I would run for public office again if I’m not the nominee.”
Donald Trump, on the other hand, was quick to offer a childish taunt.
Friday, Nov 1, 2019 · 10:46:42 PM +00:00 · Jessica Sutherland
The kind words from candidates continue.
O’Rourke’s resignation letter to his supporters gracefully—and gratefully—guides them to support the eventual nominee.
Let us continue to fearlessly champion the issues and causes that brought us together. Whether it is ending the epidemic of gun violence or dismantling structural racism or successfully confronting climate change before it is too late, we will continue to organize and mobilize and act in the best interests of America.
We will work to ensure that the Democratic nominee is successful in defeating Donald Trump in 2020. I can tell you firsthand from having the chance to know the candidates, we will be well served by any one of them, and I’m going to be proud to support whoever that nominee is.
And proud to call them President in January 2021, because they will win.
We must support them in the race against Donald Trump and support them in their administration afterwards, do all that we can to help them heal a wounded country and bring us together in meeting the greatest set of challenges we have ever known.
O’Rourke delivered an emotional goodbye to supporters in Des Moines.
Friday, Nov 1, 2019 · 11:34:20 PM +00:00 · Jessica Sutherland
Here’s one more round of warm messages for O’Rourke from Democratic primary candidates.
Friday, Nov 1, 2019 · 5:08:36 PM PDT · Jessica Sutherland
Jen O’Malley Dillon posted a lovely thread about her time as O’Rourke’s campaign manager, noting that “Beto is a truly good man, whose love and hopes for his country are real, whose reasons for being in it are good and true, and whose capacity to listen and learn from fellow Americans is boundless.”
It’s worth clicking through to read in its entirety.