Gillibrand drops bid as ten qualify for next Democratic debate

ajc.com

With two new polls on Wednesday not providing any help to Democratic candidates trying to make it into a mid-September debate in Houston, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) abandoned her White House bid on Wednesday, as pressure mounted on other lower-tier Democrats to possibly follow suit.

"Today, I am ending my campaign for president," Gillibrand said in a video for supporters.

"I know this isn't the result that we wanted," the New York Democrat said. "We wanted to win this race."

But Gillibrand was not able to get enough donations - 130,000 was the cutoff for the next debate - and also failed to get a required four polls where she was getting at least 2 percent of the vote.

Democratic front runner Joe Biden said Gillibrand had run a 'strong, courageous campaign.'

While Gillibrand was leaving the race, at least five other Democrats appeared to be in worse shape than she was, making some wonder how long their campaigns would remain viable.

Like Gillibrand, Michael Bennet, Steve Bullock, Tim Ryan, John Delaney, and Bill de Blasio were all far short of the contribution numbers needed - and none of them had a qualifying poll result of at least two percent.

It's still possible that Tulsi Gabbard, Tom Steyer, and Marianne Williamson could qualify for the October debate - but for now, they are on the outside looking in.

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