Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren bowed out of the presidential contest Thursday following poor performances in the Super Tuesday primaries where she placed third in her home state.
Warren’s exit has now narrowed down the once-crowded field of candidates down to two finalists competing for the Democratic nomination to challenge President Donald Trump in November. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-identifying socialist, and former Vice President Joe Biden are the last two major remaining candidates competing for the 1,991 of the 3,979 delegates required to secure the top of the ticket without a contested convention. Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard also remains in the race though is unlikely to come close to winning a single state contest.
Biden, after capturing a 28-point blow-out victory in South Carolina, has seen a resurgence in his campaign winning 10 states in Tuesday’s primaries including a full sweep of the South, Minnesota, Maine, and Massachusetts, where he didn’t even campaign knocking out its own senator. Warren only garnered 21 percent of the vote to Biden’s more than 33 and Sanders’ nearly 27.
Warren’s departure follows former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s who ended his campaign on Wednesday also following poor performances in Tuesday’s game-changing elections. Bloomberg, after spending more than $550 million on his late-entrance presidential effort competing in the Super Tuesday states called it quits after failing to secure more than 50 delegates in the contests.
Biden’s sweeping wins on Tuesday come as the once-sinking campaign saw new life after its large-margin win in South Carolina provoking several 2020 rivals to drop out and support the former vice president. The “moderate” coalescing around Biden’s campaign marks a last-ditch effort to thwart the socialist senator’s march towards the nomination who eclipsed Biden as the frontrunner by capturing the first three contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg ended their candidacies and endorsed Biden in Texas on Monday night. Former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke, who also ran but ended his campaign last fall also threw his support behind Biden.
