NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – John Delaney, the longest-running Democratic candidate in the 2020 presidential race, is ending his campaign after pouring millions of his own money into an effort that failed to resonate with voters.
The announcement, made Friday morning, further winnowed down a primary field that had once stood at more than two dozen.
The former Maryland representative and multimillionaire sent 19 tweets out Friday morning to make the announcement.
“lt has been a privilege to campaign for the Democratic nomination for President, but it is clear that God has a different purpose for me at this moment in time,” Delaney wrote in the first message.
Delaney, who has been among the most critical of the Democratic Party’s left wing, has struggled in the polls ahead of the primaries, with Iowa just days away.
“Let’s stop the nonsense of unrealistic and divisive campaign promises and be the party the American people need – a decent, unifying, future-focused and common-sense party,” Delaney said in another tweet.
“Onward and upward and God Bless America,” he wrote in the final tweet.
In a field dominated by well-known candidates from the liberal wing of the party, Delaney, 56, called for a moderate approach with “real solutions, not impossible promises,” and dubbed the progressive goal of “Medicare for All” to be “political suicide.”
Delaney last appeared on the Democratic debate stage in July 2019 but continued to campaign even as his presidential effort largely failed to gain traction. Delaney joins other candidates like Montana Gov. Steve Bullock and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper who unsuccessfully tried to woo moderate voters before ending their respective campaigns.
Campaign finance reports showed Delaney’s campaign was more than $10 million in debt largely because of loans Delaney made to his campaign. At the end of September, months after he had last been on a debate stage, the former lawmaker had just over $548,000 in cash on hand.
Before billionaires Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg entered the presidential race and used their substantial wealth to gain attention, Delaney tried a similar approach. Back in March, he promised to donate $2 to charity for every new donor who donated on his website. Then in October, Delaney dangled “two club-level” World Series tickets, with hotel and airfare included, as a prize for those that donated to his campaign.