What to Know
- Cory Booker, the Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey, has suspended his campaign for president.
- The former mayor of Newark made the announcement on Twitter Monday morning, saying he shares the news "with a full heart"
- Booker suspended his campaign less than three weeks before the Iowa caucus
Cory Booker, the Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey, has suspended his campaign for president.
Booker suspended his campaign less than three weeks before the Iowa caucus — sending an email to supporters saying that he leaves the race “with a heart” and citing a lack of money needed to continue scaling his campaign.
The former mayor of Newark made the announcement on Twitter Monday morning, saying he shares the news "with a full heart."
“Our campaign has reached the point where we need more money to scale up and continue building a campaign that can win -- money we don’t have, and money that is harder to raise because I won’t be on the next debate stage and because the urgent business of impeachment will rightly be keeping me in Washington,” his email to supporters read.
Throughout the race, Booker both struggled for money and to gain traction in the polls. Failing to meet key polling metrics left him off Tuesday’s debate stage at a critical point in the race.
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Lagging in polling and fundraising, Booker also came close to ending his run last September. However, he managed to obtain the necessary donations.
Who’s Running for President in 2020?
The field of Democratic 2020 presidential candidates is packed, though some have already dropped out. Those still in the race include a former vice president, senators, businessmen, House members, a former governor and a mayor. As for the GOP, a former governor and former congressman are vying to challenge President Trump.
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Updated Nov. 20, 2019
Note: Incorrect information about Michael Bennet’s cancer diagnosis and titles for Joe Sestak and William Weld have been revised on July 29, 2019, 3:17 p.m. ET.
Credit: Jo Bruni, Emma Barnett, Asher Klein, Dan Macht, Kelly Zegers / NBC; Photos: Getty Images
Following news of Booker suspending his campaign, President Donald Trump tweeted: "Really Big Breaking News (Kidding): Booker, who was in zero polling territory, just dropped out of the Democrat Presidential Primary Race. Now I can rest easy tonight. I was sooo concerned that I would someday have to go head to head with him!"
Booker's fellow Democrats were more supportive, thanking him for his contributions to the campaign and, in some cases, acknowledging longtime political friendship.
Booker, who grew up in Harrington Park, served as Newark mayor for more than seven years starting in 2006. Prior to his tenure in office leading New Jersey’s largest city, he founded a nonprofit organization to provide legal services for low-income families and, at age 29, served in the Newark City Council.
In 2013, he won a special election to represent New Jersey in the United States Senate and was re-elected in 2014 to a full six-year term.
Booker serves on the Senate judiciary, foreign relations, environment and public works and small business and entrepreneurship committees.
Booker changed the 2020 debate on tackling the epidemic of gun violence, releasing the most sweeping gun violence prevention plan ever advanced by a presidential candidate. He was the first candidate to call for a federal licensing program, which more than a dozen presidential candidates embraced.
Booker also ran his campaign focused on issues of criminal justice reform and restorative justice, calling on other presidential candidates to openly acknowledge the failure of the 1994 Crime Bill and the “tough on crime” policies of the 1980s and 1990s. He was also the only candidate pledging to liberate more than 17,000 individuals currently incarcerated in what he said were unjust sentences.
Additionally, during his run, Booker said he would use the powers of the presidency to secure reproductive rights, writing in an open letter in GQ, asking men "to listen, to speak out, and to take action. Not because women are our mothers, sisters, wives or friends — but because women are people. And all people deserve to control their own bodies.”
Booker also released a plan to bring environmental justice to communities long left behind.
