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."
After months of damaging headlines and privacy mishaps, Facebook may be down, but it's not out ー especially not in the case of the U.S. midterms, according to the company's director of outreach. Katie Harbath, global politics and government outreach director at Facebook spoke with Cheddar's Hope King about fighting fake news from the company's "war room" in an exclusive interview.
Eugene Scott, political reporter for The Washington Post, and Michael Harriot, columnist for The Root, weigh in on Georgia's close race for governor between Brian Kemp (R) and Stacey Abrams (D).
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A record number of women are on the ballot next week, but many have struggled to finance their campaigns. Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of Republican Main Street Partnership, explains the funding gap that follows women on the campaign trail.
Axios is taking a different approach to success than many of its traditional media rivals. In a click-bait media universe, the digital media start-up is prioritizing engagement over page views. "We need engaged users, not just users," co-founder Roy Schwartz told Cheddar.
On Tuesday, Missouri could become the 32nd state in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana. Cannabis legalization has garnered more public support in recent years, and medical pot is often thought to be the gateway to fuller legalization. While the Missouri medical community is split on the drug's medicinal value, much of the student body at the University of Missouri has a pro-legalization stance.
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Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the Democratic candidate running in Florida's 26th district, is slamming ads attacking her, including one that shows a man pointing a gun. Mucarsel-Powell lost her father to gun violence.
The markets looked to recover losses for October in the last day of trading for the month. Facebook shares were making solid gains on the heels of its third-quarter earnings results. Revenue slowed but the company beat estimates on earnings per share. Plus, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, an Ecuadorian immigrant running to represent Florida's 26th district, tells Cheddar the changes she would make if elected to office. The midterms are just six days out.
October's reputation as a volatile month for stocks will remain unbroken ー at least for now. The S&P 500 will close its worst October since the financial crisis a decade ago and its worst month in eight years. The gains in equities from a summer rally have been wiped out across just about every slice of the market.
