Kamala Harris Drops Out of Presidential Race
By Gene Maddaus
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Kamala Harris announced on Tuesday that she is dropping out of the presidential race, citing her campaign’s struggles to raise money in the closing months before the Iowa caucus.
Harris informed her staff on a conference call that she was suspending her campaign.
“My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue,” she said in a message to supporters. “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. 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.”
In an ominous sign earlier on Tuesday, the Harris campaign canceled a fundraiser in New York, according to CNBC.
The California senator was initially seen as a top-tier contender for the Democratic nomination. But her campaign struggled to find a consistent message and was hampered by infighting, and she sank to low single-digits in the polls.
She was the top candidate among Hollywood donors, thanks to close ties to the industry developed over three previous campaigns for state office.
But she had difficulty raising money elsewhere, and in recent weeks her campaign laid off staffers in New Hampshire and other early states as she staked her bid entirely on Iowa. Though supporters saw reason for optimism after Harris’ energetic speech at the Liberty and Justice Celebration in Des Moines on Nov. 1, the campaign lacked the money to run TV ads in Iowa.
Harris had qualified to appear at the next Democratic primary debate in Los Angeles on Dec. 19, however.
In her message to supporters, she said she would stay engaged on issues like teacher pay, abortion rights and gun safety.
“And 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,” she wrote.
