Senator Kamala Harris, who was once seen as a top tier contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, dropped out of the race on Tuesday.
"I've taken stock and looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life," the California senator wrote in a note to supporters. "My campaign for president simply doesn't have the financial resources we need to continue."
Harris spent the early days of her campaign as a promising candidate, rising as high as second place in the Real Clear Politics poll average in July, but has struggled with finances as well as reports of staff disorganization and infighting, according to the New York Times.
By November, she was polling in the low single digits and laid off her New Hampshire field team to increase her focus on Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses on February 3.
Though she had shifted focus to the Hawkeye State, she lacked the cash to run TV ads in Iowa, a state in which Harris had not run an ad in three months. Only recently, support for a super PAC made up of former aides to pay for advertising began to gain traction within the campaign.
Harris was one of seven candidates who had already qualified for the sixth debate, which will be held in her home state of California, before today's announcement.
The senator had started her campaign in front of a crowd of20,000 in Oakland, according to her campaign, and said she is withdrawing "with deep regret — but also with deep gratitude."
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo may have radically changed his stance on marijuana ー but his former Democratic primary opponent Cynthia Nixon shouldn't be congratulated for his shift, according to New York State Assembly Health Committee chair Richard Gottfried. "On this particular issue, I don't think she gets any credit," Gottfried, who has been working on marijuana policy reform since the 70s, told Cheddar Wednesday.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018.
Michael Bloomberg wants to be president, his former campaign manager Bradley Tusk told Cheddar on Tuesday. "Just putting all cards on the table: Mike would like to be president, Mike would be an excellent president," Tusk said.
If you’re looking to make a move in 2019, you could do worse than some of the cities below. Each one is using technology ー IoT, machine learning, data analysis, autonomy, A.I. ー to remake the way its citizens interact with their surroundings. But a smart city is more than just innovative technology, as Mike Barlow and Cornelia Levy-Bencheton, authors of "Smart Cities, Smart Future," told Cheddar. It's about improving lives in concrete, everyday ways.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018.
As 2020 approaches, one question is dominating the Democratic Party: Who can defeat President Trump? According to Jeff Weaver, the campaign manager of Bernie Sanders' 2016 bid for the White House, Americans want someone new. And that "new" voice is still his old boss.
Not only has New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reversed his stance on marijuana, but he's also expediting his timeline for legalization. According to Joseph Spector, the Albany bureau chief for USA Today, the Cuomo committed to an accelerated schedule on Monday when he charted the agenda for his first 100 days in office.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Monday, Dec. 17, 2018.
Federal prosecutors are investigating whether foreigners illegally funneled money to President Trump's inaugural committee to buy influence over American policy. Bomb threats emailed to multiple locations across the country deemed non-credible by the FBI. For the first time ever, the number of streaming shows has surpassed the number of basic cable and broadcast shows. From now until December 31st, users of the dating app Hinge can get a buy-one, get-one free meal at Chipotle to enjoy with their date.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
