Pete Buttigieg drops out of 2020 race for US Democratic presidential candidacy
Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay major US presidential candidate and a former small-town mayor in Indiana, has tonight dropped out of the race to be the Democratic candidate in the 2020 election.
The decision followed a significant loss at a primary in South Carolina over the weekend, at which Buttigieg came in fourth place.
He secured a narrow victory in the Iowa caucuses and second place in New Hampshire last month, but failed to appeal to non-white communities to secure a broad voter base.
He is currently on his way to his former mayoral town of South Bend, Indiana, to give his campaign suspension speech.
Rival Joe Biden’s campaign to reach the White House was given a new lease of life after he secured a resounding victory in the South Carolina primary yesterday. Overall, Biden secured 49 per cent of the vote while Vermont senator Bernie Sanders won just 20 per cent, according to official state results.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer came third on 11 per cent, but later chose to end his presidential campaign.
Biden, who served as vice president under Barack Obama, is making his third bid for the White House.
The South Carolina results came days ahead of so-called Super Tuesday, when primaries in 14 states will award one-third of the available national delegates.
Super Tuesday will also present the first major challenge from billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who has splashed out half a billion dollars in advertising across the country.
Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, who are also competing for the Democratic candidacy, trailed in South Carolina and now face a significant challenge to mount a comeback against the frontrunners.