Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg withdrew from the Democratic presidential race on Wednesday, hours after a dismal showing in states that voted on Super Tuesday.
“Three months ago, I entered the race for President to defeat Donald Trump,” Bloomberg, 78, said in a statement.
“Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trump—because it is clear to me that staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult.”
Both former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), 59, ended their bids in recent days before endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden, 77. Biden trumped Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Super Tuesday, though the 78-year-old senator won some states, including California.
Bloomberg, who has an estimated net worth of $61 billion, spent over $500 million of his own money on his campaign after announcing his entry into the field in late 2019. Bloomberg sought to provide voters with a moderate option to Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), 73, but failed to convince people he was a better choice than Biden, whose messaging has in part focused on his differences with Sanders.
In announcing his withdrawal from the race, Bloomberg endorsed Biden for the Democratic nomination.
The withdrawal leaves Biden and Sanders fighting for the nomination absent a brokered convention, which is triggered if no candidate gets a majority of delegates.
Biden now has 467 delegates, according to one tracker, ahead of Sanders, who has 392.
Warren is a distant third with 51. Bloomberg earned 45 before he left the race.
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), 38, who hasn’t ended her bid, earned her first delegate on March 3, from American Samoa.
Biden won nine states on Super Tuesday, including Alabama, Texas, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. Sanders took Colorado, Vermont, and Utah in addition to California. No other candidate won a Super Tuesday state.
Biden previously took South Carolina after Sanders won Nevada and tied with Buttigieg in first in New Hampshire. Buttigieg won by a slim margin over Sanders in Iowa.
The next primaries are slated from March 10, when voters in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, and Washington state will head to the polls.
From The Epoch Times