On Friday, Beto O'Rourke, who was a candidate in the Democratic primary for the 2020 United States presidential election, announced the end of his campaign. He made his announcement via a post on Medium, in which thanked his supporters.
O'Rourke dropped out ahead of the upcoming Democratic primary debate scheduled for November 20 in Georgia. According to reports, O'Rourke was not qualifying for the debate; two weeks before the November 13 deadline, O'Rourke had only reached 3 percent support in two qualifying polls, of which four are needed.
O'Rourke made gun control a key issue of his campaign. After a mass shooting near the border in August, the O'Rourke campaign cancelled events as O'Rourke returned home El Paso, Texas, where he is a former City Councilor. A month later, during the third primary debate, O'Rourke defended his proposal of a mandatory buyback program, saying that "Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15."
Reports said O'Rourke, a former United States Representative who gained national recognition during his 2018 run for Senate against Ted Cruz, does not plan to run for Senate in 2020.
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