Buttigieg Dropping Out Of Presidential Race

mayorpete-12
mayorpete-12

He started off a long-shot, and won the disputed Iowa caucuses last month. But there wasn’t enough momentum to keep former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg going in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The 38-year-old is ending his bid for the nomination and the White House ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries on March 3 and Michigan’s primary on March 10. Indiana voters will go to the polls on May 5.

Buttigieg was the first openly gay candidate to run for a major party’s presidential nomination. The Associated Press reports his departure from the race reflects the growing pressuring among more moderate Democrats to consolidate in an effort to blunt the rise of Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who Buttigieg said was too liberal to be elected.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.