Beto O’Rourke is running for president in 2020

The Democratic rising star Beto O’Rourke is jumping into the race for president, he told a Texas TV station in a text message Wednesday.

The Democrat, who has publicly mulled a run for months, confirmed his plans in a text to KTSM of El Paso, where he served as a US representative.

O'Rourke, 46, is the 15th Democrat to declare his bid for the White House.

O’Rourke said he was proud of “what El Paso represents”, calling it “a big part of why I’m running. This city is the best example of this country at its best.”

In last year's mid-term election, he ran a tight race against Republican Ted Cruz for his Senate seat.

His campaign proved ultimately unsuccessful but he did better than any Democrat in Texas for decades, running a media-friendly campaign that energized the Democratic Party nationwide and drew comparisons with former President Barack Obama.

He joins a growing roster of people vying for the Democratic nomination - including senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg to name but a few.

He plans to head to Iowa for a three-day trip starting Thursday, the Dallas Morning News reported, and his supporters were receiving emails asking for help sending out text messages Thursday morning.

The former congressman is expected to make his formal announcement on Thursday via social media before appearing in Iowa, one of the key states in the early part of an election campaign.

O’Rourke’s first name is actually Robert but is known by his nickname Beto - a common contraction of Roberto, which he picked up as a child in El Paso.

The former punk rock musician is seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, who can draw huge crowds and funding.

A fluent Spanish speaker, the Texan politician with Irish roots broke Senate fundraising records by amassing more than $80 million (£62 million) over the course of his 2018 campaign.

He also travelled to all of Texas's 254 counties in his Senate bid, documenting every moment of the journey on social media