Three Democratic candidates drop out within 24 hours.
WASHINGTON – Within hours of polls closing in New Hampshire, three Democratic presidential candidates called it quits, leaving behind a field with only one candidate of color and a solidified group of top contenders.
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., ended their campaigns nearly an hour after most polls closed Tuesday in New Hampshire. Wednesday morning, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick did the same, after saying Tuesday he was going to discuss the future of his run with his wife.
All three candidates pointed to their low finish in the first-in-the-nation primary state. Yang got 2.8% of the votes, while Patrick and Bennet got 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
“You know, I am the math guy, and it is clear tonight from the numbers that we are not going to win this race,” Yang told supporters at an election night rally Tuesday evening.
“We’ve accomplished so much together,” he said. “We have brought a message of humanity first and a vision of an economy and society that works for us and fellow Americans.”
For the first time in almost a year, the Democratic presidential race is down to eight candidates.
Nationally, Sen. Bernie Sanders leads the pack, taking that mantle from former Vice President Joe Biden. A Quinnipiac Poll shows Sanders with 25% support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, ahead of Biden at 17%. That is a 9-point drop for Biden from late January and a 4-point jump for Sanders. The Vermont senator squeezed out a victory in New Hampshire after placing in the top two in Iowa and brings that two-state momentum into Nevada next week.
Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg has emerged as a formidable candidate after finishing first in Iowa and a close second in New Hampshire. Buttigieg, who competes for the moderate wing of the party, has slowly seen his stature grow over the past several months but still struggles to earn support from voters of color. He has earned about 10% among all Democratic voters in national polls but trails Sanders and Biden by double digits.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren also remain in the top tier and look ahead to Nevada and South Carolina to boost their delegate counts.
The biggest unknown is where Mike Bloomberg fits in.
The former New York City mayor opted out of competing in the early voting states and focused primarily in Super Tuesday states. It’s unclear how he’ll fare, but his profile has risen nationally, and he enjoys double-digit support in several recent national polls.
Bloomberg’s candidacy is untested. He has largely avoided attacks from other Democrats, and he has yet to qualify for a debate stage.
The 2020 Democratic presidential field was once among the largest and most diverse groups of candidates the party had ever seen. Now, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who is of Samoan descent, is the only candidate of color left after Yang and Patrick dropped out. Gabbard is still chugging along despite her low finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire and is pushing forward to South Carolina.