When the Presidential candidates started announcing themselves, there was an extremely large pool running for the Democratic nomination. Since that time, candidates have been dropping out left and right. Let’s take a look at the applicant pool and the timeline of how things have narrowed down.
Richard Ojeda
Late January is when this contender decided to drop out of the race. After recognizing his inability to compete financially, he threw in the towel. However, he did vow to continue speaking out about his values and fighting injustice against the elderly and working class.
Eric Swalwell
Swalwell dropped out of the race in July of 2019. His polling numbers and fundraising amounts fell short of his goal and he felt he could no longer continue. His platform of gun safety remains his passion and he is committed to fighting for reform.
Mike Gravel/ John Hickenlooper
After being convinced to run for the second time by a group of teenagers, Gravel eventually dropped out in August. Hickenlooper quickly followed. He strongly believed he was the person who was going to bring both parties together to tackle climate change and healthcare costs. Unfortunately, his campaign didn’t last long.
Jay Inslee/ Seth Moulton/ Kirsten Gillibrand
These three candidates all dropped out in August. Inslee’s number one priority was climate change. He failed to gather enough support to be a successful candidate and subsequently ended his bid. Moulton believed strongly in reformed healthcare and climate change. However, he felt the race had become a three way battle in which he was not included. Finally, Gillibrand left as well. A strong supporter of women’s rights, her ultimate goal was to get more women elected to office.
Bill de Blasio
The mayor of New York dropped out of the race when he realized he couldn’t gather enough traction to support a long term campaign. His priorities were to tax the wealthy to help the working class.
Tim Ryan
After working towards giving a voice back to those he felt had been forgotten, Ryan ultimately ended his campaign in October.
Beto O’Rourke
Rourke recognized early on that his campaign wasn’t going to make it off the ground. Despite his bold plan for a gun buyback program, he wasn’t able to stand out enough in the crowded candidate field. He ended his bid in November.
Wayne Messam
Late November saw the loss of this candidate. He was a champion for many of the same causes as his opponents. Gun reform, healthcare and student loans were some of his key talking points. He tried hard, but ultimately never got enough campaign traction to qualify for any debates.
Joe Sestak
Sestak was a late comer to the party and dropped out in December. He was passionate about foreign policy and climate change; however, because of his late arrival, his campaign struggled to take off.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this article. The remaining democratic candidates who have ended their presidential bids will be mentioned there.