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Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke has dropped out of the presidential race, ending a campaign that struggled to recapture the energy of his insurgent 2018 Senate candidacy.
O'Rourke made the decision to quit on the eve of a gathering of Democratic presidential candidates in Iowa, and is not expected to run for the Senate in 2020 despite efforts by party leaders to encourage him to launch another Senate bid.
Meanwhile, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has made significant gains in the crucial state of Iowa, as former Vice President Joe Biden slipped to fourth place in a New York Times/Siena College poll of voters likely to attend the state's caucuses. Buttigieg is within one percentage point of Senator Bernie Sanders in the poll. Senator Elizabeth Warren currently leads the pack.
