Self-help author Marianne Williamson announced Friday she would be ending her presidential campaign with less than a month until the Iowa caucuses.
“I stayed in the race to take advantage of every possible opportunity to share our message. With caucuses and primaries now about to begin, however, we will not be able to garner enough votes in the election to elevate our conversation any more than it is now,” Williamson wrote in an email to supporters. “As of today, therefore, I’m suspending my campaign.”
One of the most unconventional candidates to run for president, the spiritual guru managed to qualify for the first two debates of the Democratic primary held in June and July. While Williamson landed a few memorable moments on stage, the best-selling author failed to gain significant traction among voters to make it to the subsequent stages of the primary.
Signs that Williamson was preparing to drop out of the race became clear last week when it was revealed that Williamson laid off her entire campaign staff.
With Iowa just a few weeks away, Williamson was barely registering in 2020 polls if at all.
At the start of the Democratic primary, Williamson’s candidacy caught many by surprise. The non-denominational faith leader and frequent guest on the Oprah Winfrey show had only competed for office once before and didn’t come close to winning. Williamson placed third running as an independent for a California congressional seat in 2014.
Throughout her presidential campaign, Williamson developed a reputation for framing the issues in the language of New Age spirituality leading to some viral moments on the internet. During the first primary debate, Williamson made her introduction to millions when she pledged she would not run her campaign on a platform of a set of detailed policy proposals as her rivals would but instead would run on message of love and unity.
“Mr. President, if you’re listening, I want you to hear me out, please,” Williamson declared to a primetime audience from the debate stage Miami. “You have harnessed fear for political purposes and only love can cast that out… I’m going to harness love for political purposes. I will meet you on that field, and sir, love will win.”
Her signature proposal was plans for a United States Department of Peace. True to her debate pledge, the proposal was light on the details and included a list of duties largely already covered by the State Department.
