Democrats facing a steep uphill climb to win back the Senate want Beto O’Rourke to reconsider his long-shot bid for president and take another look at running for the Senate in Texas, especially if his White House bid fails to pick up momentum.

They feel the same way about two other White House hopefuls who are polling at around 1 percent or lower: former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper John HickenlooperThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Cook Political Report shifts Colorado Senate race toward Democrat Willie Nelson playing at virtual fundraiser for Hickenlooper MORE and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock Steve BullockMcConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Senate Democrats demand White House fire controversial head of public lands agency Pence seeks to boost Daines in critical Montana Senate race MORE.

Political experts give O’Rourke, Bullock and Hickenlooper little chance of winning the White House but say they could give GOP incumbents in their states a run for the money.

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If they don’t run, Democrats will have a slimmer chance of winning in the states and taking back the Senate majority in either 2020 or 2022. And that would hamper a Democratic president — if the party can defeat President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE.

Democratic senators won’t call out the low-polling presidential candidates by name in public, but they’re not shy about making the argument that some would do more for their party in Senate races than in the crowded presidential fight.

“The clock is running out for people who have not demonstrated any ability to mount a serious presidential bid to help make a real difference in their country by helping to turn the Senate,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon WhitehouseThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Feinstein 'surprised and taken aback' by suggestion she's not up for Supreme Court fight Hillicon Valley: Murky TikTok deal raises questions about China's role | Twitter investigating automated image previews over apparent algorithmic bias | House approves bill making hacking federal voting systems a crime MORE (D-R.I.), articulating a sentiment that other Senate Democrats expressed privately.

“It would be a shame if we elected a new president who faced the same enmity and obstruction in the Senate that Obama had to live through, all because a lot of candidates who had no shot wouldn’t run for winnable Senate seats,” he added.

O’Rourke, a former three-term House member, raised nearly $79 million for his 2018 Senate race and came within 3 points of defeating Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Cruz blocks amended resolution honoring Ginsburg over language about her dying wish Trump argues full Supreme Court needed to settle potential election disputes MORE (R-Texas).

He is hovering around 4 percent in recent Democratic primary polls — down from when he entered the race.

A new Quinnipiac University poll showed that Democrats and people who lean Democratic in Texas say by more than a two-to-one margin that O’Rourke should challenge Sen. John Cornyn John CornynQuinnipiac polls show Trump leading Biden in Texas, deadlocked race in Ohio The Hill's Campaign Report: GOP set to ask SCOTUS to limit mail-in voting Liberal super PAC launches ads targeting vulnerable GOP senators over SCOTUS fight MORE (R-Texas) instead of run for president.

The poll also showed former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Hillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Fox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio MORE ahead of Trump by 4 points in Texas, suggesting a strong Senate candidate could benefit.

Jeff Hewitt, a Democratic strategist who has done extensive work in Texas, said O’Rourke would have a major advantage over any other candidate because he has high name ID in Texas’s 30 media markets as a result of spending nearly $80 million in his 2018 race.

“The fundraising ability, the idea of turning a Texas Senate seat blue, those are all the things that fueled his Senate campaign, which nobody cares about when he’s running for president,” he said. “The smartest political play for O’Rourke would be to go back to Texas and run for Senate."

“He’d have the best chance to pull it off,” Hewitt said of beating Cornyn.

Chris Evans, a spokesman for O’Rourke, said “Beto is grateful for the opportunity he had to run an historic and transformational Senate campaign in 2018 that visited all 254 counties of the state while winning more votes than any Democrat in Texas history.”

He said O’Rourke is “committed to bringing forward that same drive and ability to not just defeat Donald Trump in November of 2020 but to unite people together so we can overcome the greatest set of challenges this country has ever faced.”

Bullock and Hickenlooper are facing similar scrutiny.

Bullock, a two-term governor, was rated Montana’s most popular politician with a 60 percent approval rating in a Montana State University–Montana Television Network poll published in January.

Hickenlooper, a former two-term governor of Colorado, left office this year with an approval rating of 49 percent — versus a disapproval rating of 30 — and would be a daunting matchup for vulnerable Sen. Cory Gardner Cory Scott GardnerBillionaire who donated to Trump in 2016 donates to Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Cook Political Report shifts Colorado Senate race toward Democrat MORE (R-Colo.).

Stacey Abrams, who came within 2 points of winning Georgia’s governor’s race last year, is another candidate Senate Democrats see as a solid recruit to take out a GOP incumbent, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.). Abrams has flirted with running for president, but it now looks she may be preparing for a gubernatorial rematch in 2022.

Like Whitehouse, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin Richard (Dick) Joseph DurbinThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Feinstein 'surprised and taken aback' by suggestion she's not up for Supreme Court fight Grand jury charges no officers in Breonna Taylor death MORE (Ill.) said he also hopes that Democrats with long-shot presidential bids think more seriously about the Senate. But he warned they would have to be fully committed to win.

“We have a number of presidential aspirants who would make excellent senatorial candidates, but they first have to be committed to the race. I hope they’ll reach the point where it makes sense to them,” he said.

Durbin said “of course” there’s frustration among some of his colleagues that promising candidates have decided to run for president instead of the Senate. But he suggested the field could narrow as some realize they have little chance of winning the presidency.

“The system has a way of narrowing the field,” he said.

Even if high-profile candidates don’t win in Republican-leaning states, they would force Senate Republicans and their allied PACs to divert more money to defending vulnerable incumbents.

A third Democratic senator, who requested anonymity to comment on internal caucus discussions, said, “There’s frustration among people who care about the majority.”

Sen. Jon Tester Jonathan (Jon) TesterDemocrats shoot down talk of expanding Supreme Court Pence seeks to boost Daines in critical Montana Senate race This World Suicide Prevention Day, let's recommit to protecting the lives of our veterans MORE (D), who narrowly survived a bruising reelection race in Republican-leaning Montana last year, said he hears from Democratic colleagues who want Bullock to change his mind and run for Senate.

“But the truth is this is Steve’s call and he’s chosen to run for president. He’d make a great president. I think it’s a hard battle for him to win, but it’s a hard battle for Booker and Bennet and all these other guys I like, too. It’s the way it is,” Tester said, referring to Senate colleagues Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Bipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death DHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility MORE (N.J.) and Michael Bennet Michael Farrand BennetOVERNIGHT ENERGY: House Democrats tee up vote on climate-focused energy bill next week | EPA reappoints controversial leader to air quality advisory committee | Coronavirus creates delay in Pentagon research for alternative to 'forever chemicals' Senate Democrats demand White House fire controversial head of public lands agency Next crisis, keep people working and give them raises MORE (Colo.), two presidential candidates also polling in the low single digits.

A Democratic strategist in Washington who works on Senate races acknowledged that O’Rourke and Abrams would be strong Senate candidates but argued that their high name ID is a result of the work they put into the 2018 campaign cycle and that other candidates can do the same.

“Texas and Georgia are fundamentally competitive, regardless of who the Democratic candidate is. It takes time to build up your name ID. It took Beto O’Rourke and Stacey Abrams two years to do that,” said the strategist.

A poll commissioned by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee published in late April showed on a generic ballot test voters in Georgia are more likely by 2 percentage points to favor an unnamed Democratic candidate for Senate over an unnamed Republican one.

Democrats need to capture four Republican-held seats, or three GOP seats and the White House, regain the Senate majority.

If Sen. Doug Jones (D) loses in Alabama, a solid red state that President Trump won with 62 percent in 2016, the bar gets even higher.

Political handicappers say Republicans are favored to keep control of the Senate, even though they have to defend 24 seats while Democrats only have to protect 12.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, rates Democrats chances of taking back the Senate in 2020 as “not that good.”

“We’ve got 51 seats classified as Republican to one degree or another. There are some toss ups. Democrats are at 46 instead of 47, which they have now, so they’d have to sweep the toss-ups that we’ve got and then manage to convert at least one Republican seat — two if a Republican is reelected to the White House,” he said.

He rates the toss-up states as Arizona, Colorado and Alabama. He views Maine, Iowa and North Carolina as leaning Republican and Montana and Texas as likely Republican.

Senate Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority.

The problem for Democrats is that only two Senate Republicans are up for reelection in states 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonFox News poll: Biden ahead of Trump in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio Trump, Biden court Black business owners in final election sprint The power of incumbency: How Trump is using the Oval Office to win reelection MORE won — Gardner in Colorado and Sen. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power Billionaire who donated to Trump in 2016 donates to Biden Credit union group to spend million on Senate, House races MORE in Maine — and Collins, a fourth-term moderate, will be tough to beat.

Gardner and Sen. Martha McSally Martha Elizabeth McSallyThe Hill's Campaign Report: Presidential polls tighten weeks out from Election Day Mark Kelly: Arizona Senate race winner should be sworn in 'promptly' New ABC/WaPost poll finds Trump edging Biden in Arizona, Florida MORE (R-Ariz.) are the Democrats’ two most promising targets, but Gardner, who beat incumbent Sen. Mark Udall Mark Emery UdallThe 10 Senate seats most likely to flip Democratic presidential race comes into sharp focus Democrats will win back the Senate majority in 2020, all thanks to President Trump MORE (D-Colo.) in 2014, has proven himself to be a canny campaigner.

Democrats, however, could increase their chances of relegating Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power MORE (R-Ky.) to the minority by expanding their list of targets to include Cornyn and Sen. Steve Daines Steven (Steve) David DainesThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power Credit union group to spend million on Senate, House races Trump seeks to turn around campaign with Supreme Court fight MORE (R) in Texas and Montana, respectively.