Two Democrats have dropped their bids for their party’s presidential nomination with the current field now down to 16 candidates, with just six of them currently qualifying for the next primary debate on Dec. 19.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said on Dec. 2 that he would suspend his campaign for president, saying in a blog post on Medium that his campaign was unable to break ground. He became the third governor to end his presidential campaign.
“Thank you for this priceless opportunity as I end our campaign together ... I deeply appreciate the support so many of you offered whether by volunteering, offering financial contributions or coming to our campaign events,” Sestak wrote on Dec. 1.
Meanwhile, two newcomers announced in November that they would be running for the nomination: Deval Patrick, a former governor of Massachusetts, and Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire media mogul and former mayor of New York City.
The bid for the Democratic nomination has been fiercely competitive, with candidates all painting themselves as the person who can best unseat the sitting president. So far, aside from the top four candidates, contenders are struggling to raise money and break through in the race. At one point, the sprawling field of candidates peaked at 25 people.
Trailing Biden is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 16.6 percent and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) at 15 percent. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg rounds out the top tier at 11.8 percent.
No other candidate is in double-digits; the highest polling single-digit candidate behind Buttigieg is Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who is at 4 percentage points.
There have never been so many contenders running for the Democratic presidential nomination, and the current field of 16 candidates is the largest in modern U.S. history. The number of contenders could still increase even further.
During the rally, Trump celebrated the booming economy and cautioned that a vote for any Democrat would erase the progress made since 2017.
“America will never be a socialist country, ever,” the president added. “Republicans do not believe in socialism, we believe in freedom, and so do you.”
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