The Democratic pool of presidential candidates for the 2020 election was initially one of the biggest we’ve ever seen. The following is part two of a timeline that explains how we ended up with our remaining two candidates.
Steve Bullock
One day after Sestak dropped out of the race, Bullock followed suit. He remained firm in his belief that he stood a great chance of defeating Trump. However, the candidate field was too crowded for him to break through to a successful campaign.
Kamala Harris
Harris may have been one of the most surprising drop outs of the race. She was passionate about reform in the criminal justice system. An incredibly popular candidate, Harris had even qualified for the next debate when she announced her withdrawal. Her biggest struggle came down to finances. She couldn’t support her campaign at the level it needed.
Julian Castro/ Marianne Williamson
January saw Castro withdraw from the race as well. A former player in the Obama administration, he wanted to make things better for immigrants and the poor. Marianne Williamson also dropped out of the race in January. The self-help author struggled to gain traction for her campaign which included the usual platform of gun reform, climate change and universal healthcare.
Cory Booker/ John Delaney
January continued to see a lot of dropouts ending with these two. Booker was yet another candidate who struggled to connect with voters both early on and nationally. Delaney not only had a vision for the country, he had a vision for the Democratic party. He called for them to become a unified, driving force. Ultimately, he dropped out because he felt God had other plans for him.
Michael Bennet/ Andrew Yang
These two candidates dropped out on the same day in February. Yang failed to get enough support to see his bid through to the end. He did make statements that lead supporters to believe we will see him again in the future. Bennet, passionate about education and immigration reform also failed to garner enough support to succeed.
Deval Patrick/ Tom Steyer
Deval Patrick joined the race late, a decision that would prove to be his downfall. His campaign didn’t stand a great chance of getting off the ground. Steyer spent much of his time and money rallying for support in South Carolina hoping to win the primary there. After Biden’s double digit victory, he was disappointed and knew it was time to drop out.
Pete Buttigieg/ Amy Klobuchar/ Mike Bloomberg
These three candidates dropped out within days of each other. After running fairly successful campaigns, they were surprised to see Biden gaining a lot of traction. After realizing their own campaigns weren’t going to succeed, they all publicly endorsed him.
Elizabeth Warren
Most recently, Warren dropped out of the race leaving only former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders.
Now that we’re down to the last two candidates, it will be interesting to see who ultimately wins the Democratic nomination.