Moulton drops out of Democratic race
Exit of Massachusetts congressman follows Jay Inslee’s departure. Twenty-one major candidates remain.
WASHINGTON — Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary race on Friday, becoming the second 2020 candidate to exit the large field this week.
Moulton announced the end of his bid in remarks to the Democratic National Committee at its summer meeting in San Francisco, and said he would seek reelection to Congress.
“Though this campaign is not ending the way we hoped, I am leaving this race knowing that we raised issues that are vitally important to the American people and our future,” he said.
Moulton focused his 2020 candidacy on mental health treatment after revealing his own struggles on that front as a combat veteran.
The Marine Corps veteran said he ran for president to highlight that Democrats should not yield the idea of patriotism to Republicans. He told DNC members that he will campaign vigorously for the party’s eventual 2020 presidential nominee.
President Trump, who routinely mocks the large field of Democrats, noted Moulton’s exit in a tweet: “The Dow is down 573 points perhaps on the news that Representative Seth Moulton, whoever that may be, has dropped out of the 2020 Presidential Race!”
The stock market dropped earlier Friday after Trump tweeted that he “hereby ordered” U.S. firms to consider alternatives to doing business in China and vowed to respond to Beijing’s latest tariff increase.
Asked about Trump’s tweet, Moulton said he was glad Trump thinks the congressman has more effect on the Dow than the president does.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee left the presidential race Wednesday after his climate-centered campaign failed to gain traction.
Inslee, 68, had reached the 130,000 unique donors necessary to join the Democratic debate in September, but had not secured the required 2% support in four polls. He also couldn’t secure a place in a debate focused on climate change, where he might have had an advantage.
In an email to supporters, Inslee vowed to “continue to lead, to demand bold action, and to do everything in [his] power” to keep climate change “at the top of the national agenda.”
Inslee will run for a third term as governor, he said in a statement Thursday.
Also Thursday, another former 2020 candidate, John Hickenlooper, said he would run for the U.S. Senate. The former Colorado governor dropped out of the presidential field Aug. 15, and became the immediate frontrunner in a crowded Democratic field aiming to challenge Sen. Cory Gardner, one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents seeking reelection next year in a state where Trump is deeply unpopular.
Twenty-one prominent candidates remain in the Democratic primary field.