New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker on Monday suspended his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination after failing to gain traction and the financial resources
“It was a difficult decision to make, but I got in this race to win, and I’ve always said I wouldn’t continue if there was no longer a path to victory,” Booker said in an email to supporters.
“Our campaign has reached the point where we need more money to scale up and continue building a campaign that can win — money we don’t have, and money that is harder to raise because I won’t be on the next debate stage and because the urgent business of impeachment will rightly be keeping me in Washington.”
It’s with a full heart that I share this news—I’m suspending my campaign for president.
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To my team, supporters, and everyone who gave me a shot—thank you. I am so proud of what we built, and I feel nothing but faith in what we can accomplish together. pic.twitter.com/Fxvc549vlJ
take our poll - story continues belowCompleting this poll grants you access to Hispolitica updates free of charge. You may opt out at anytime. You also agree to this site's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) January 13, 2020
His exit from the race comes just a day before the Democratic field meets for another debate in Iowa. Despite participating in earlier debates, Booker struggled to gain much popular support. Most polls throughout the primary race never had him registering more than 2 to 3% in support, although the 50-year-old had met the polling and donor thresholds for the Democratic primary debates through October.
Booker’s campaign first acknowledged in September that it was falling behind in fundraising and urged supporters to donate in order to keep the New Jersey senator in the running.
He raised $6.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, putting him well behind most of his competitors for the Democratic nomination.
Booker has expressed concern for months about the waning diversity in the Democratic presidential field, especially as candidates of color, like Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, dropped out of the race.
“Of all of the people who’ve qualified for the next Democratic debate stage, not one is a person of color,” Booker wrote in an email to supporters a couple of days ago. “For a party as diverse as ours, in an election where communities of color will decide the outcome, that’s wrong.”
In a video on Monday, Booker pledged to “everything in my power to elect the eventual Democratic nominee for president,” as well as other candidates down the ballot, though he did not hint at whom he would back in the primary race.
“I can’t wait to get back on the campaign trail and campaign as hard as I can for whoever is the eventual nominee and for candidates up and down the ballot,” Booker said.
Booker’s withdrawal from the race comes just weeks away from his campaign’s one-year anniversary. He originally announced he was running for president on February 1, 2019.
President Trump reacted to the news by mocking Booker’s candidacy.
Really Big Breaking News (Kidding): Booker, who was in zero polling territory, just dropped out of the Democrat Presidential Primary Race. Now I can rest easy tonight. I was sooo concerned that I would someday have to go head to head with him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2020
