Rep. Eric Swalwell, whose presidential campaign was struggling to gain traction in a sea of Democratic applicants, fell out of the 2020 race. The Democrat from California announced on July 8 that he is ending his bid.
Swalwell told NBC that he has told his spouse, staff, constituents, and supporters that he is running for only one reason to win and make a difference. He added that “being honest with ourselves, we had to look at how much money we were raising” as well as polling.
“I want to thank my supporters & friends, my staff, & my family for making this journey possible. I’ll never forget the people I met & lessons I learned while traveling around our great nation,” he wrote on Twitter, highlighting that he wanted to deal with gun violence in the United States.
The end of the campaign by Swalwell indicates the closing of the window for many Democrats in their presidential bids.
“Some may be hanging on to the hope that if they can just get past the summer doldrums, they can catch voters when they start tuning in, come fall,” said Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida, USA Today reported. “But after that, it becomes much, much more difficult especially for some of these candidates who will be facing pressure from party leaders to drop out and get into the Senate race.”
It appears that former vice president Joe Biden is leading, despite a powerful performance from California Sen. Kamala Harris during the first debate, according to an aggregation of surveys from RealClearPolitics. A survey by ABC News on July 3 reveals Biden at 30%, Harris 13%, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sander at 13%, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 12%.
Top applicants, including Sanders and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, saw their poll figures fall, while New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke have barely registered in the polls.
Swalwell had his greatest time of campaign two weeks earlier when, during the first Democratic debate, he attacked Biden.
Swalwell, along with Buttigieg, 37, and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), 38, was one of the youngest applicants competing for the Democratic nomination. The president’s minimum age is 35.