Kamala Harris Drops Out Of Democratic Primary Race
Kamala Harris will reportedly be dropping out of the presidential election today, based on reporting from The Atlantic staff writer Edward-Isaac Dovere, via Twitter. The Senator from California was polling at 5 percent among potential Democratic nominees according to Real Clear Politics.
On Tuesday, Harris, the only African-American Democratic candidate who managed to reached the top tier, at least briefly, of the national polls early on in the 2020 presidential election, told her staff that she’s suspending her campaign, as CNBC reported.
The California senator announced her ambitions to hopefully move into the White House come November 2020 in January to great fanfare. Even President Donald Trump, at the time, sent a rare compliment Harris’ way.
“I would say, the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris,” Trump said.
Harris managed to gain serious and unexpected ground in the polls after the first Democratic primary debate over the summer, when she went toe-to-toe with former Vice President Joe Biden, calling him out on several race-based issues, including busing, that earned her immediate praise from media pundits to Democratic voters across the nation who rewarded her with a poll surge. Naturally, a surge from a promising candidate who scored points in the high-profile first debate also led to a fuller campaign war chest.
Unfortunately for Harris, she wasn’t able to make any headway in the second Democratic primary debate and according to analysts, might have taken a step backward.
She also had trouble with clarifying her stance on some of the biggest issues facing the nation, including health insurance.
During the first debate, she was one of the Democratic candidates who, without hesitation, raised her hand when asked if she supported the elimination of private health insurance in favor of a U.S. government-run alternative. Just a day later, her campaign walked back her proclamation, saying that they would, in fact, support keeping private health insurance for Americans.
My dear friend @KamalaHarris is 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. pic.twitter.com/HzLXw88NrM
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 3, 2019
As her campaign took a steady dive in both state and national polls, she faced another nail in the proverbial political coffin as reports swirled recently that some of her campaign staff turned sour on the candidate, which didn’t help her polling or fundraising ability.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, former top aide to Harris, Kelly Mehlenbacher, resigned from her position last month, citing a rise in internal turmoil among staffers.
“This is my third presidential campaign and I have never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly,” Mehlenbacher said.
Others, such as Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge — a Harris endorser — claimed that the campaign’s woes were a result of poor leadership at the top, specifically calling for the resignation of Harris’ campaign manager, Juan Rodriguez.
