So many Democrats were confident they could beat President Trump in November 2020 that more than 25 major candidates eventually entered the party’s primary fray.
Now, a bit longer than a month from the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses, the nation’s first nominating contest, the field of top-tier contenders has shrunk to former Vice President Joe Biden, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Several other mid-tier candidates also could make a play in Iowa and other early states, including Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and potentially Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City.
But the 2020 Democratic race has already had its share of candidate casualties. Here are 10 Democratic also-rans whose campaigns didn’t make it to the New Year.
1. Bill de Blasio — The New York City mayor’s presidential campaign flamed out in September, two months before his Gracie Mansion predecessor Bloomberg entered the race. The mayor, 58, tried to position himself as the most liberal candidate, a tough sell running against socialist Sanders and Warren, a left-wing populist.
But de Blasio’s presidential race wasn’t a total loss, as he ended up with a piece of campaign swag. He was spotted in Brooklyn in late September wearing a T-shirt from House Majority Whip James Clyburn’s “World Famous Fish Fry” event that took place in June in South Carolina. The event drew 22 Democratic presidential hopefuls, each of whom received a blue “Clyburn” tee.
2. Steve Bullock — Poor timing helped doom the Montana governor’s presidential bid. Bullock entered the presidential race in May, once his state’s legislative session ended, but months after most of his Democratic White House rivals. During his six-plus-months in the presidential field, Bullock’s campaign message emphasized his moderate politics and his claim to be able to win red states such as Montana. Before he entered the 2020 race, Bullock was reelected to a second term as governor in 2016.
But Bullock, 53, struggled to gain support. Most polls throughout the primary race never had him registering more than 1 to 2% in support. He dropped out Dec. 2.
3. Kirsten Gillibrand — Like California, New York politicians tend to see themselves as national figures. And Gillibrand, a senator since 2009, following a single House term, positioned herself as the best to take on the then-New Yorker in the White House. (Trump has since changed his official residence to Florida.) Gillibrand took to the trail with an anti-Trump message, calling the White House incumbent a “coward” during her launch in March outside Trump Tower in Manhattan. She also pushed women’s issues as part of her “Brave Wins” agenda, including abortion access and affordable child care.
But fundraising was slow, and Gillibrand, 53, ended her campaign Aug. 28 after failing to qualify for the September round of Democratic presidential primary debates. She had not met the 130,000-donor threshold or the polling threshold.
4. Kamala Harris — The California senator is the highest-profile dropout of the 2020 crop. The former California attorney general, 55, launched her White House bid in January to a boisterous Oakland crowd of 20,000 people.
Daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian Tamil mother, Harris had a unique candidate profile in the large Democratic field.
But she peaked too early, winning accolades for an aggressive first debate performance against Biden. After that late June moment, Harris’s campaign flatlined, falling in the polls and losing donors. The former prosecutor’s presidential bid was hamstrung by her failure to counter attacks regarding contradictions in her record, including her past positions on truancy and prostitution. She pulled the plug on Dec. 3.
5. John Hickenlooper — The former Colorado governor and Denver mayor has the brightest immediate political future of any of his competitors. Hickenlooper’s presidential race ended Aug. 15, as he consistently polled in the low single digits and was burdened by weak fundraising numbers.
Yet Hickenlooper, 67, quickly bounced back politically. He soon entered Colorado’s 2020 Senate race, seeking the Democratic nomination for the right to face Republican Sen. Cory Gardner. Hickenlooper is a heavy favorite in the primary, and he’s leading Gardner in the Democratic-trending state.
6. Jay Inslee — The Washington governor also had a quick political recovery after quitting the race on Aug. 21. Inslee made climate change the cornerstone of his campaign, but not enough Democratic presidential voters thought it was a top priority.
Inslee, 68, now is seeking a third term as Washington governor. He’s a heavy favorite in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican governor since 1980.
7. Seth Moulton — The Massachusetts congressman’s presidential bid was one of the shortest in the Democratic field. The retired Marine Corps officer and Iraq War veteran with three Harvard degrees, 41, announced his candidacy on April 22 and withdrew from the race on Aug. 23.
Moulton is running for reelection in his North Shore Massachusetts House district, but his political headaches may not be over. He faces several legitimate Democratic primary challengers, who accuse him of focusing more on national politics than local concerns.
8. Beto O’Rourke — The onetime political wunderkind’s presidential campaign ended Nov. 1, marking one of the swiftest political falls in recent decades. O’Rourke, 47, was a House member from El Paso for six years, starting in 2013. In his 2018 Senate race against Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, O’Rourke lost 51%-48%, by far the narrowest margin of any Texas statewide candidate since the early 1990s.
The national attention set up O’Rourke’s presidential bid, which he announced March 14 in El Paso. But with so many candidates in the field, O’Rourke found it difficult to get traction. Even his “fresh face” aura evaporated next to the candidacy of South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, nine years his junior.
9. Tim Ryan — Trump’s success wooing white, working-class voters in 2016 was major theme of Ryan’s presidential bid, but not nearly enough to win him the Democratic nomination. Ryan has represented the Youngstown, Ohio, region in the House since 2003, often lamenting the loss of factory and manufacturing jobs there.
Still, the 46-year-old struggled to raise campaign funds in the crowded field and rarely made Democratic debate stages. He launched his White House campaign on April 4 and dropped out six months later. Ryan is now running for reelection to his House seat, in which Hillary Clinton beat Trump 51%-45%.
10. Eric Swalwell — The California congressman was the first major Democratic candidate to drop out, exiting the race July 8 amid poor fundraising and sagging poll numbers. A presidential race was always a leap for Swalwell, 39, considering no House member has jumped directly to the presidency since James Garfield in 1880.
Swalwell is a cable television staple, and as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, among the fiercest advocates of Trump’s impeachment.
Who’s Next? The Iowa caucuses figure to winnow out many of the remaining candidates. That includes Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who has earned minimal support despite months of campaigning, and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney, a multimillionaire businessman who has been in the race since 2017 and virtually camped out in Iowa, to no avail.
Higher-profile candidates such as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker will face tough choices if they don’t show strongly in Iowa. Others may stay in for vanity reasons, such as Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a gadfly candidate who is giving up her House seat and of late has posted several YouTube videos singing with her husband, Abraham Williams.
