Tulsi Gabbard said she will not seek reelection for her House seat and is fully committed to her presidential bid.
“As president, I will immediately begin to work to end this new cold war and nuclear arms race, and our interventionist foreign policy of carrying out wasteful regime change wars, and instead redirect our precious resources toward serving the needs of the people right here at home,” Gabbard said in a video posted early Friday morning. “As such, I will not be seeking re-election to Congress in 2020, and I humbly ask you for your support for my candidacy for President of the United States.”
Had she run for reelection, Gabbard faced a primary challenge from Democratic state Sen. Kai Kahele, who secured endorsements from three former Hawaii governors and has criticized Gabbard for focusing too much on her presidential bid rather than her House duties. Hawaii state law appears to allow a candidate to run for Congress and president simultaneously.
Gabbard, 38, was elected to Congress in 2012 and is in her fourth term. Before running for Congress, Gabbard held public office as a Hawaii state representative from 2002 to 2004 and a Honolulu city councilwoman from 2011 to 2012.
Gabbard’s announcement comes a week after Hillary Clinton criticized her candidacy and theorized that she is a “Russian asset” being groomed for a third-party run. Gabbard responded by calling Clinton the “queen of warmongers” and “embodiment of corruption.”
The Hawaii congresswoman restated last week that she would not run for president as an independent or third-party candidate and will support the Democratic presidential nominee. She has also said she plans to stay in the Democratic presidential race through the Democratic National Convention in July.
Gabbard has initiated fiery attacks on her primary competitors and major media outlets during Democratic presidential debates, but she has yet to qualify for the November round and lags far behind top-candidates in polls and fundraising. A Quinnipiac poll released Thursday found Gabbard with 1% support nationally among likely Democratic primary voters, and she raised $3 million in the third quarter of 2019.
A veteran who is still a major in the Hawaii Army National Guard, Gabbard has made anti-intervention foreign policy the cornerstone of her campaign. She deployed to Iraq in 2004 and served as a specialist with a medical company at Camp Anaconda. In 2008 and 2009, Gabbard deployed to Kuwait as an Army military police officer.
“Bringing the experience I have both as a soldier serving for ever 16 years in the Army National Guard, deploying twice to the Middle East, and serving in Congress for nearly seven years on the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, I am prepared to walk into the Oval Office on Day One to do that job,” Gabbard said in the video.
I’m so grateful to the people of Hawaiʻi for allowing me to serve you in Congress for the last 7 years. Throughout my life, I’ve always made my decisions based on where I felt I could do the most good. In light of the challenges we face, I believe I can… https://t.co/cNcjSNSoZl pic.twitter.com/h3wM6AZLMs
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) October 25, 2019
I’m fully committed to my offer to serve you, the people of Hawaii & America, as your President & Commander-in-Chief. So I will not be seeking reelection to Congress in 2020. I humbly ask for your support for my candidacy for President of the United States https://t.co/cNcjSNSoZl
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) October 25, 2019
