BALTIMORE _ Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who was considered a potential Democratic candidate for president following a failed 2016 bid, said Thursday he will not run in 2020 and instead urged U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke to get in the race in a Des Moines Register op-ed.
O'Malley, also a former mayor of Baltimore, said his "long-shot presidential candidacy" in 2016 "found its flame extinguished between a rock and an angry place in my own party."
He said O'Rourke, who came close in the 2018 midterm elections to unseating Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas, "ran a disciplined and principled campaign that also managed to be raw, authentic, and real."
"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."
O'Malley spent the past two years campaigning for 120 Democratic candidates in 30 states for the 2018 midterms with his Win Back Your State political action committee.
The U.S. and the world face many challenges, including building a stronger economy, reversing climate change and passing immigration reform, O'Malley said.
"O'Rourke has the wisdom to listen, the courage to lead, and a rock-solid faith in the powerful goodness of our nation," he wrote, adding: "And because he is from a border state, O'Rourke understands the enduring symbol of our country is not the barbed-wire fence, it is the Statue of Liberty."
O'Malley also touted the Texas congressman's values _ "honesty, compassion for one another, and courage in the face of a rapidly changing future" _ as those shared by the next generation.
"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'Malley wrote.
