BERNIE SANDERS IS ending his second bid for the presidency, the campaign staff was informed on a conference call Wednesday morning, according to campaign sources.
Sanders’s departure from the race comes a day after the state of Wisconsin went forward with a controversial in-person election, which Sanders had called to be postponed. The Vermont senator was momentarily the frontrunner for the nomination, following a popular-vote win in Iowa, a win in New Hampshire, and a decisive victory in Nevada. His chances fell apart in South Carolina, where the dean of the state party, Rep. Jim Clyburn, gave an impassioned endorsement to former Vice President Joe Biden. A race that had been narrowing turned into a blowout.
Party moderates then coalesced around Biden, who soared in the polls, pulling off the biggest comeback in the shortest amount of time, measured by a swing in the polls, since the modern primary process began in 1972. Biden won a majority of states on Super Tuesday and continued racking up victories throughout March.
Trump pardons Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, others involved in 2020 election interference saga
Senate Democrats cave, open path to reopening government
Flight reductions likely to continue — or worsen — if shutdown persists, experts warn
Billionaire Miriam Adelson voices support for Stefanik’s New York governor campaign launch
Trump does play-by-play in the broadcast booth of Commanders game
Transgender ex-lawmaker, first in state’s history, pleads guilty to federal child sex abuse charges
Hitchhiker’s Guide to what to expect tonight on the government shutdown
Illegal immigrant dodges deportation for decade before allegedly killing man in DUI hit-and-run
Air Force One conducts flyover of Commanders-Lions game as Trump makes history
Fact Check: Did ICE Officers’ Arrest Send Father With a Child in His Arms Into a Seizure?
Gingrich: This Is Chuck Schumer’s Shutdown Strategy
DOJ charges two Cleveland Guardians pitchers in pitch-rigging sports betting scheme
Republicans unveil key piece of shutdown puzzle in bid to reopen government
Spanberger says ‘absolutely not’ to using election wins to justify government shutdown stance
Princeton offering gender studies course exploring reproductive life in Gaza ‘genocide’
Some in Sanders’s inner circle — including, most vocally, Our Revolution Chair and labor leader Larry Cohen — urged Sanders to stay in the race in order to build his delegate total and leverage that for policy wins within the Democratic Party’s platform. Others argued the platform is largely meaningless and that his greatest leverage is in the Senate, where the economy is being reshaped by an ongoing series of relief efforts historic in scope and scale.
The Sanders campaign had raised $182 million by the end of February, with roughly $19 million cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission records. The Biden campaign, meanwhile, had raised $88 million and had $12 million cash on hand at that point in the campaign.
Sanders’s exit is a boost for Biden, particularly as it relates to campaign finance. Without a primary opponent, he can move more quickly to the general election phase of the race, during which he can spend money raised for that purpose. Had the contest gone all the way to the August convention without Biden having locked up the necessary delegates, he would be restricted to his scarce primary funds only. It’s not entirely clear when Biden can tap general election funds, and lawyers are working to move the date up as much as possible, sources said.
Sanders will be addressing his supporters via livestream at 11:45 a.m. ET.
Story cited here.
