As the first openly gay man to launch a campaign for president, Pete Buttigieg left a lasting mark by becoming the first gay candidate to earn primary delegates for his presidential nomination. The former Indiana mayor announced his plans to quit the Democratic race after his poor performance with voters of color, mostly Democrats in South Carolina, took a drastic toll.

Despite being scheduled to fly from Selma, Alabama, to Dallas, Texas on Mar. 1, Buttigieg informed reporters that he would return to his hometown of South Bend to end his campaign. “I [made] the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency. We have a responsibility to concede the effect of remaining in this race any further. Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for our values” he stated.

In the end, Buttigieg did not make it to Super Tuesday, but gained the support of many Democrats. Although it’s unclear as to what comes next for the former mayor, some officials speculate a possible position in the Democratic administration or taking another attempt at becoming the Democratic Committee chairman, a position he ran for and lost in 2017. 

Concluding his statement, he ended with “I hope that everyone who has been a part of this in any way knows that the campaign you have built and the community that you have created is only the beginning of the change that we are going to make together.” 

Along with Buttigieg, Tom Steyer and Amy Klobuchar also dropped out of the presidential race on Feb. 29 and Mar. 2. In an attempt to prevent Bernie Sanders from taking the lead, both Klobuchar and Buttigieg decided to endorse Joe Biden together. 

Though Klobuchar took third place in New Hampshire, she struggled to build another campaign that could “compete across the country” and had poor showings in the next contests. The American lawyer and politician currently serving as the senior U.S. Senator from Minnesota, took to support Joe Biden with former Texas rep. Beto O’Rourke following the same lead. 

On the other hand, former hedge fund manager and liberal activist, Tom Steyer, made the decision to suspend his campaign after a disappointing finish in South Carolina. As he failed to meet the 15% minimum requirement to earn state-wide delegates and failed to earn or break more than 4% of the vote in Iowa, New Hampshire, or Nevada, the path to winning became more narrow. 

Despite spending a total of $150 million on ads in early states with a total of $253 million on his campaign, this still proved to be not enough. Steyer, who had entered the race in July 2019, founded two organizations during his campaign. The organization names include the Need to Impeach, which advocates for Congress to impeach President Donald Trump, and NextGen America, a group combating climate change and supporting those who are climate activists. 

Though remaining candidates such as Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren remain strong in the presidential election, only time will tell.

Photo courtesy of FORWARD.COM