Kamala Harris Drops Out Of 2020 Presidential Race

Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris, who plunged in the polls amid internal strife in her campaign, dropped out of the 2020 presidential election Tuesday after cancelling a major New York City fundraiser.

Harris, a California Democrat, informed staffers of her decision in a morning phone call before tweeting out the news.

“To my supporters, it is with deep regret — but also with deep gratitude — that I am suspending my campaign today,” Harris wrote on her Twitter page.

“But I want to be clear with you: I will keep fighting every day for what this campaign has been about. Justice for the People. All the people.”

The disarray inside Harris’ campaign was laid excruciatingly bare in a resignation letter from Kelly Mehlenbacher, the outgoing state operations director, who complained that staffers were being treated appallingly and top officials provided little direction on policy and lacked a viable plan to win the election.

“This is my third presidential campaign and I have never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly,” Mehlenbacher wrote in the Nov. 11 letter obtained by the New York Times.

Mehlenbacher, who landed with former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 campaign, said the final straw came when dozens of aides at Harris’ Baltimore headquarters were laid off.

“It is unacceptable that we would lay off anyone that we hired only weeks earlier. It is unacceptable that with less than 90 days until Iowa we still do not have a real plan to win,” she wrote.

The 55-year-old Harris, who was recently overtaken in the polls by Bloomberg, also canceled a high-profile fundraiser scheduled for Tuesday at a law firm in New York City, CNBC reported on Tuesday.

The event, expected to take place at the Paul Weiss law firm, was dropped from Harris’ schedule because of a “personal matter” and was not rescheduled.

On Monday, her campaign announced that California Gov. Gavin Newsom would spend two days in Iowa to promote her candidacy to help shore up her lagging poll numbers in the early caucus state.

Newsom, who endorsed her candidacy, was expected to attend a number of events on Dec. 14-15.

RealClearPolitics average of Iowa polls put her at 3.3 percent, behind South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 24 percent, Sen. Bernie Sanders at 18.3 percent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 17.7 percent, Joe Biden at 16.3 percent and Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 5.3 percent.

Sen. Cory Booker, a Democratic presidential hopeful, called Harris a “trailblazer.”

“I’ve loved serving with her in the Senate and every moment we’ve run into one another on the trail. Her campaign broke barriers and did it with joy. Love you, sister,” the New Jersey Democrat wrote on Twitter.

Buttigieg also noted her withdrawal.

Harris “has spent her career advocating for the voiceless and the vulnerable. I am grateful for her leadership and the courage she brings to the Senate and the national debate. I know she will continue to fight fearlessly on behalf of the American people—and our democracy,” he said in a tweet.

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