Martin O'Malley Urges Beto O'Rourke To Run For President In 2020

ANNAPOLIS, MD — You can cross Martin O'Malley off the list of possible 2020 presidential candidates.

O'Malley — the former Maryland governor and 2016 presidential candidate — shot down speculation that he would run for president in 2020 and encouraged Texas' Beto O'Rourke to run instead. He announced he was endorsing O'Rourke in a Thursday op-ed for the Des Moines Register.

In his piece, O'Malley said he was impressed by O'Rourke, a Democrat who rose to national prominence last year after he lost his Texas Senate race to Ted Cruz. He also said that O'Rourke ran a "disciplined and principled campaign" and his message "brought people together in Texas."

"(W)hile I will not be running in 2020, I would like to put my faith and trust in a fearless American future — an American future large enough for all of our children," O'Malley wrote. "Like so many other Americans, I believe we need new leadership to make that future a reality. And, I believe the new leader who can best bring us together and turn us around to create that better American future is Beto O'Rourke."

O'Rourke has not said whether he will run for president in 2020.

In his piece, O'Malley also wrote about the challenges he faced while running for president. Reflecting on his experience, the Democrat said the country "wasn't in the mood for new leadership."

"In 2016, my long-shot presidential candidacy found its flame extinguished between a rock and an angry place in my own party. America wasn't in the mood for new leadership. We were in a mood of anger, rage and retribution. And in this mood, Donald Trump's candidacy rose. It was good for ratings, and good for the Russians; but, bad for America. And, we got what we got."

O'Malley served as the mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007 and the governor of Maryland from 2007 to 2015. He dropped out of the 2016 presidential race after the Iowa caucuses.

O'Malley went on to say that America's mood has changed since 2016.

"People are looking for a new leader who can bring us together. They are looking for a unifier and a healer. They are looking for a leader of principle, and they are now looking for a fearless vision," O'Malley wrote.

That leader, according to O'Malley, is O'Rourke.

"The fearless vision and unifying message which brought people together in Texas also sparked imaginations all across our country," O'Malley wrote. "And, I believe, will again — if Beto O'Rourke runs for president."

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