Montana governor drops out of U.S. presidential race

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – Montana Governor Steve Bullock announced on Monday, December 2, he is dropping his run for the White House, crowded out of a large field of Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Bullock, 53, entered the race late and was never able to make up the lost ground as a moderate whose strongest selling point was his 2016 reelection as governor in a red state won by Donald Trump.

“Today, I’m suspending my campaign for President,” he said on Twitter. “Thank you for your belief, your trust, and your support.”

His departure still leaves 16 Democrats running for their party’s nomination with the addition of billionaire Michael Bloomberg on November 24.

A dozen others have dropped out of the race so far, most recently Joe Sestak, a former congressman from Pennsylvania who ended his long-shot bid on Sunday.

Former vice president Joe Biden still leads the pack in national polling, followed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg.

Bullock was polling at 0.4% nationally when he withdrew, according to a RealClearPolitics.com average, and had failed to make the cut for future Democratic national debates.

“While there were many obstacles we could not have anticipated when entering this race, it has become clear that in this moment, I won’t be able to break through to the top tier of this still-crowded field of candidates,” he said in a statement. – Rappler.com