Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), once seen as a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, has dropped out of the 2020 presidential race.
“To my supporters, it is with deep regret — but also with deep gratitude — that I am suspending my campaign today,” Harris tweeted on Tuesday.
To my supporters, it is with deep regret—but also with deep gratitude—that I am suspending my campaign today.
But I want to be clear with you: I will keep fighting every day for what this campaign has been about. Justice for the People. All the people.https://t.co/92Hk7DHHbR
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 3, 2019
In an email to her supporters, which she also published on Medium, Harris said her campaign “simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue.”
“I’m not a billionaire. I can’t fund my own campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it’s become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete,” she wrote. “In good faith, I can’t tell you, my supporters and volunteers, that I have a path forward if I don’t believe I do.”
Harris’s campaign faced another setback last week, when a resignation letter by campaign state operations director Kelly Mehlenbacher was obtained by the New York Times. “This is my third presidential campaign and I have never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly,” Mehlenbacher wrote. “With less than 90 days until Iowa we still do not have a real plan to win.”
Harris’s campaign also struggled with online fundraising and spent more than $1.41 for every dollar the campaign raised in its third quarter, according to the Times. She was also polling in the single digits for national and early-state polls.
Still, Harris had been the only person of color to qualify for this month’s debate, as of Tuesday. Her debate stage performances over the past year, particularly when going up against former Vice President Joe Biden, had garnered her praise.
“I want to be clear: although I am no longer running for President, I will do everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump and fight for the future of our country and the best of who we are,” Harris wrote to her supporters. “Let’s keep fighting for the America we believe in, an America free of injustice. An America that we know we can be unburdened by what has been. Thank you.”
It has been the honor of my life to be your candidate. We will keep up the fight. pic.twitter.com/RpZhx3PENl
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) December 3, 2019