(Reuters)
NEW YORK - Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman who nearly won a U.S. Senate seat last year in the reliably conservative state, is struggling in his White House bid and has lost support from young voters and minorities, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos national poll.
The public opinion poll released on Thursday shows support for O’Rourke among registered Democratic and independent voters slipped by 3 percentage points since a May survey to 3% overall.
During the same time, other leading Democratic presidential candidates saw their support increase. The poll found 31% of Democratic and independent voters would vote for former Vice President Joe Biden, 14% supported U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and 9% backed U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, netted 6% and 5%, respectively, making O’Rourke the sixth most popular choice in a field of 24 candidates.
Support for O’Rourke was down 5 points among voters ages 18-34 from May, and his support from non-white adults declined by nearly 3 points.
A spokesman for O’Rourke did not respond to a request for comment.
With eight months to go before Democrats begin holding nominating contests around the country, there is still a lot of time for O’Rourke to turn things around. O’Rourke, who entered the race in March, has been working to re-energize his campaign and bring a more traditional approach to his White House run after a less-structured strategy in his Senate campaign.
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