Kamala Harris Has Dropped out of the Presidential Race
Harris ends her presidential run as financial issues and factions within her campaign team become too large to fix.
Kamala Harris has officially dropped out of the 2020 presidential race. According to Politico, Harris will release a video announcing her plans.
Harris has struggled to raise funds and gain support over the past few months. Despite a strong start when she entered the Democratic presidential primary in January, she has now chosen to step down ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
A report by the New York Times points out that Harris had issues securing funding "in recent months" due to her large funders stepping away and the slowing down of online fundraising. Harris' campaign has not taken a poll and also hasn't been able to afford TV advertising since September, according to an in-depth report. She also had to halt buying Facebook ads over the course of the past two months.
Another issue that has emerged over the past few days is internal clashes between staffers. Just days ago, Harris' state operations director Kelly Mehlenbacher resigned. Her resignation letter pointed to unprofessional layoffs, the staff being treated "poorly" and "no real plan to win."
According to 50 current and former campaign staff members and allies, Harris made "flawed decisions about which states to focus on, issues to emphasize and opponents to target." In interviews, the sources criticized the former Democratic candidate for pitting herself against rivals and also not firmly selecting a side in the party’s ideological feud between liberals and moderates."
Campaign manager Juan Rodriguez was pointed out as one of the sources of the major issues within the campaign. Representative Marcia Fudge, former chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus who previously endorsed Harris shared, "The weakness is at the top. And it’s clearly Juan. He needs to take responsibility — that’s where the buck stops." She also said, despite Kamala being an exceptional candidate, she's responsible for the structure she created that hasn't served her well.
As the news came out, Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, tweeted in support.
Following the official announcement of her resignation, Harris published a post on Medium. She wrote:
"My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue. I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it's become harder and harder to raise money we need to compete."
She also shared:
"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. I know you will too. So let’s do that together. 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."
Source: Politico