Beto ORourke A Democratic Darling In 2018 Struggling On National Stage

(Reuters) NEW YORK - Beto ORourke 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 ORourke 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 ORourke the sixth most popular choice in a field of 24 candidates. Support for ORourke 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 ORourke 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 ORourke to turn things around. ORourke 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.