Former US congressman Beto O'Rourke drops out of presidential race

WASHINGTON - Former US congressman Beto O'Rourke announced on Friday that 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," the Texas Democrat said in a statement. "My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee."

O'Rourke, 47, served in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019.

A local from the Texan border city of El Paso, O'Rourke ran unsuccessfully for Senate in the 2018 midterm elections against incumbent Republican Ted Cruz, in a competitive campaign that had elevated the challenger's national profile.

But O'Rourke's presidential campaign, which kicked off in March with much fanfare, has recently struggled to gain traction in a crowded Democratic field, amid fundraising woes. Poll numbers have also put him well behind top-tier contenders.

O'Rourke mounted an effort in August to reboot his candidacy after a deadly mass shooting in El Paso killed 22 people by making progressive gun control measures a campaign signature but was called out by conservatives, including President Donald Trump.

O'Rourke was the latest Democratic hopeful to end a presidential campaign, leaving 17 others still in the race.

According to a RealClearPolitics average of recent polling, former Vice President Joe Biden is currently leading at 26.7 percent, trailed by Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, with 21.3 percent and 16.3 percent, respectively.

The latest New York Times-Siena College poll released on Friday showed that Warren is currently leading in Iowa, an early voting state, and is holding a slim lead over Sanders.

Biden has fallen to the fourth place behind Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who ranks third at 18 percent, according to this poll.