Elizabeth Warren has ended her bid for the US Democratic presidential nomination.
Despite gaining momentum early on in the race, Warren failed to drum up significant support in the first wave of primary contests. She finished in a disappointing third place in the Iowa caucuses, fourth in both the New Hampshire primary and Nevada caucuses, and fifth in the South Carolina primary.
Warren failed to win a single state on Super Tuesday, finishing third in her home state of Massachusetts behind former Vice President Joe Biden, who was first, and Bernie Sanders, who was second.
Sanders, the progressive candidate Warren was most often compared to on the campaign trail given their similar policy proposals, emerged as a clear front-runner last month after winning the popular vote in the Iowa caucuses. In the New Hampshire primary, Sanders virtually tied for first with former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who dropped out of the race on Sunday, and went on to win the Nevada caucuses with roughly 46% support.
Biden catapulted to the front of the pack following his landslide victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday and his wave of victories on Super Tuesday.
Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012. She previously helped launch the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under then-President Barack Obama.
It was long expected that Warren would toss her hat into the ring in 2020, particularly after it was widely speculated she’d run for president in 2016 and she decided not to. She formally jumped into the race in February last year.
Her campaign largely focused on fighting corruption, bolstering the middle class and working families, creating affordable housing and implementing “Medicare for All.”
“I have a plan for that” ― a reference to her the more than 75 policy proposals and plans outlined on her website ― became one of Warren’s taglines on the campaign trail.
Her folksy and optimistic stump speeches were almost always followed by her trademark selfie lines, which would sometimes include hundreds of rallygoers and take the candidate hours to get through.
In a conference call with her campaign staff, Warren said: “Never again can anyone say that the only way that a newcomer can get a chance to be a plausible candidate is to take money from corporate executives and billionaires.”