Booker Bails on 2020 Race After Spending Tens of Millions of Dollars

Iowa is but a few weeks away at this point, and the Democrats seem no closer to choosing a nominee for the 2020 election than they were a year ago.

Sure, there are a few less candidates now than even a few weeks ago, but the knot at the top of the polls seems to only tighten as the pressure mounts.  The Iowa caucuses are historically a make-or-break moment for candidates…if they make it that far.

Now, one of the Democrats who seemed poised to make a long run toward the White House is dipping out early, after having spent a moderate fortune on his campaign.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) wasted over $14 million on his failed presidential campaign, according to estimates based on federal election records.

The latest campaign finance report filed on September 30, showed that Booker spent$13,981,713 on his campaign, according to Open Secrets. Millions more were likely spent in the following months, but the full amount will not be publicized until later in January.

Booker said that fundraising had dried up, particularly after failing to appear on the Democratic debate stage due to low polling numbers.

He wrote:

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.

Booker’s exit comes on the heels of both Julián Castro and Marianne Williamson making the same choice last week.