O’Rourke not ruling out being vice presidential candidate

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) said Tuesday he is not ruling out being a 2020 vice presidential candidate even though he is actively considering running for president or the Senate next year.

“I’m going to consider every way to serve this country. And, yes, that will include anything,” he answered in Spanish when asked if he would consider taking the No. 2 spot on the party’s presidential ticket.

{mosads}He added that his near future “may involve running for the presidency. It may involve something else,” according to The Associated Press. He was speaking at an event honoring him as the 2018 El Pasoan of the Year.

It was reported in December that advisers to former Vice President Joe Biden floated the idea of tapping O’Rourke as a running mate if Biden were to make a 2020 bid of his own.

O’Rourke shot to national prominence in 2018 after his Senate campaign to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) captivated the progressive base and garnered a record amount of small, individual donations. He lost by less than 3 points in the ruby red Lone Star State.

The Texas Democrat is known to be actively mulling a presidential bid in 2020 and has been courted by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and others to try to unseat Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) next year. He has said he plans to make his final decision public by the end of the month.

Though he has performed near the top of several polls surveying national support for 2020 Democratic candidates, he would be jumping into an already crowded primary field should he decide to run for the White House, joining Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and more.