New Hampshire primary: Michael Bennet becomes latest Democrat to quit 2020 presidential race

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Michael Bennet has ended his presidential campaign after failing to garner significant support along the campaign trail, suspending his bid as vote results from New Hampshire’s primary showed a weak performance for the Colorado senator.

The 2020 hopeful reportedly told supporters on Tuesday: “I love you, New Hampshire. Whether you knew it or not, we were having a great time together.”

He added: “I think it’s fitting for us to end the campaign tonight.”

The announcement came just after Andrew Yang, another low-polling Democratic presidential candidate, announced he was suspending his campaign amid the first-in-the-nation primary.

“They’ve decided tonight, and tonight is not going to be our night, but let me say this to New Hampshire: You may see me once again, so thank you”, Mr Bennet said.

The initial New Hampshire primary results appeared to show Bernie Sanders with a significant first place lead, followed by Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar.

Elizabeth Warren trailed in fourth place, as former Vice President Joe Biden also appeared to have another weak showing following what he called a “gut punch” fourth place in the Iowa caucus.

While the results of the New Hampshire primary are not always necessarily indicative of who goes on to secure the Democratic nomination, analysts say it often winnows the field to a small group of top contenders who then go on to compete in Super Tuesday and other battleground states.

Mr Bennet initially gained national prominence when he delivered a speech on the Senate floor about the partial government shutdown under Donald Trump.

A clip of the speech went viral online and received more views than any other C-Span video on the Senate floor, leading many to urge the Colorado senator to launch a bid for the presidency.

He failed to make several of the recent Democratic debates, which required certain polling and fundraising quotas in order to stand on the stage with the leading candidates.

Mr Yang, who announced the suspension of his candidacy just moments before Mr Bennet, was the last candidate of colour to qualify for the debate stages, effectively leaving a still-crowded field of all-white candidates vying for the Democratic nomination.