Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic congressman who nearly won Ted Cruz’s Texas Senate seat, has reportedly met with Barack Obama, fuelling speculation that he is considering a 2020 presidential run.

The politician shot to national prominence during his vibrant campaign during the recent midterm elections and many have tipped him as a potential candidate for the White House.

The congressman sat down with the former president in Washington last month, The Washington Post reported.

Neither camp has commented on the reports, but speculation around Mr O’Rourke’s political plans are likely to grow stronger.

At a town hall meeting in his district of El Paso last week, the congressman said he was weighing up a run in 2020 but still needed to talk the idea over with his family.

When he was trying to unseat Mr Cruz, a former Republican candidate for the presidency who was ultimately defeated by Donald Trump, Mr O’Rourke said he would not consider running for the White House.

But after his narrow defeat in the midterm elections last month, he told reporters he was no longer ruling anything out.

Mr Obama has been meeting with many leading figures in the Democratic Party in recent weeks, including others rumoured to be considering a presidential bid such as Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

In a recent podcast, the former president said Mr O’Rourke reminded him of himself.

“The reason I was able to make a connection with a sizeable portion of the country was because people had a sense that I said what I meant,” Mr Obama said, adding that his race “didn’t feel constantly poll-tested. It felt as if he based his statements and his positions on what he believed”.

US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Show all 28 1 /28 US midterm elections: voters head to the polls US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Beto O'Rourke talks with a supporters after he cast his ballot at El Paso Community College-Rio Grande Campus Getty Images US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Sarah Salem, 34, swims as voters cast their ballots at Echo Deep Pool in Los Angeles AP US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Abigail Spanberger, Democratic candidate to represent Virginia's seventh Congressional district in the US House of Representatives; casts her ballot to vote in the 2018 midterm general election, with her daughters Claire (L), Charlotte (Bottom C) and Catherine (R); inside a polling station located at Deep Run High School in Glen Allen, EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls A voter waits behind a line to cast their vote at a Fulton County polling place in Atlanta, Georgia REUTERS US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Representative Peter King and his wife Rosemary hand in their completed ballots as voters turn out at the Manor Elementary School in Seaford AP US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Two year old Mave Adilatta looks out from a voting booth as her mother casts her ballot in Cambridge, Massachusetts EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Beto O'Rourke, candidate for US Senate, speaks with reporters after voting REUTERS US midterm elections: voters head to the polls A voters fills out their ballot for the midterm election at a polling place in Madison, Wisconsin REUTERS US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Congresswomen Elect Ayanna Pressley speaks to reporters after voting at the Adams Street Library AFP/Getty Images US midterm elections: voters head to the polls A sign showing voters where to cast their ballots in the 2018 midterm election in the Mt Airy neighborhood in Philadelphia EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Democratic candidate for Vermont Governor Christine Hallquist leaves after voting in Hyde Park, Vermont EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Members of the group Your Vote Matters place signs on an overpass in Saint Louis, Missouri EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Voters cast their ballots at a polling station setup in a City of Hialeah Fire Station Getty Images US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Voters enter a polling station in Des Moines, Iowa Getty Images US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Volunteers with the Democratic party take cover from the rain as they wait to speak to voters outside of a polling station AFP/Getty Images US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Voters cast their ballots in the 2018 midterm election at the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Streetsboro, Ohio EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Democratic candidate for Vermont Governor Christine Hallquist campaigns in Stowe EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls A voter of the Jewish community is seen leaving after he cast his ballot in the midterm election at the East Midwood Jewish Center polling station in the Brooklyn borough of New York City AFP/Getty Images US midterm elections: voters head to the polls A man wearing a New York Yankees hat votes during in Manhattan Reuters US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Voters line up to cast their ballot just before the polls open in the mid-term election in Miami Getty US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Voters cast their ballots at the Tuttle Park Recreation Center polling location in Columbus, Ohio AP US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Stickers that read 'I Voted' are seen at a polling station located at Deep Run High School in Glen Allen, Virginia EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Poll workers check over voting machinery before voters arrive at Franklin School in Ohio USA EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Voters cast their ballots at Immaculate Conception Parish Hall in Ravenna, Ohio EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Election judges take the oath before opening a polling location in Arlington Heights, Illinois EPA US midterm elections: voters head to the polls Voters arrive at the Tuttle Park Recreation Center in Columbus, Ohio AP US midterm elections: voters head to the polls People vote in Manhattan Reuters US midterm elections: voters head to the polls A voter uses an electronic voting machine AP

The congressman, who finished just 2.6 percentage points behind Mr Cruz in a state which has not elected a Democrat senator since 1988, turned down Mr Obama’s offers of help and endorsement during his midterm campaign.

Even as Mr O’Rourke’s race hit the international spotlight he insisted the election was up to Texans alone.

In 2012, when he was running for the House of Representatives nomination against the eight-term incumbent Democrat Silvestre Reyes, Mr Obama and other party heavyweights such as Bill Clinton backed his rival.

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But now politicians across the United States are looking to the 2020 election, Mr O’Rourke seems to be more interested in garnering support from across his party.

The charismatic 46-year-old has already been publicly backed, should he run for president, by a number of Obama White House officials and aides, who say he reminds them of their old boss.