Beto O'Rourke is, for all intents and purposes, still running for president in the Democratic primary. His poll numbers are not encouraging, and even the media has stopped paying attention to his campaign. Nevertheless, he persists.
All might not be lost for Beto, however, as his campaign got some encouraging news Tuesday with the release of a new Emerson poll of North Carolina primary voters. O'Rourke stands in sixth place at 3 percent, giving him a slight edge over "Someone Else," in seventh place at 2 percent.
According to the Emerson poll, former Vice President Joe Biden leads the field in North Carolina at 39 percent. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) is in second at 22 percent, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) at 15 percent. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) round out the top five at 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively.
Tuesday also saw the release of a new CNN national poll, which had some positive news for Beto in that he has pulled even with Buttigieg, who looked to have considerable momentum behind his campaign but seems to have stalled of late. The pair is tied for fifth place at 5 percent, just a few percentage points behind Harris (8 percent) and Warren (7 percent).
Biden continues to enjoy a double-digit lead over Sanders in early national polling, although the latest CNN poll showed his lead had shrunk several points compared to other recent polls. Gov. Jay Inslee (D., Wash.) the single-issue climate change candidate, remains irrelevant at 1 percent.
New @CNN poll:
Biden 32%
Sanders 18%
Harris 8%
Warren 7%
Buttigieg 5%
O’Rourke 5%
Booker 3%
Castro 2%
Klobuchar 2%
Bennet 1%
Gabbard 1%
Gillibrand 1%
Inslee 1%
Ryan 1%
Yang 1%
de Blasio <1%
Delaney <1%
Hickenlooper <1%
Williamson <1%
Bullock 0%
Messam 0%
Moulton 0%
Swalwell 0%— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) June 4, 2019