Cory Booker: I've made the hard decision to suspend my campaign for president.
Cory Booker sent the following email to supporters today at 11am ET:
Friend,
Nearly one year ago, I got in the race for president because I believed to my core that the answer to the common pain Americans are feeling right now, the answer to Donald Trump’s hatred and division, is to reignite our spirit of common purpose to take on our biggest challenges and build a more just and fair country for everyone.
I’ve always believed that. I still believe that. I’m proud I never compromised my faith in these principles during this campaign to score political points or tear down others. And maybe I’m stubborn, but I’ll never abandon my faith in what we can accomplish when we join together.
I will carry this fight forward -- I just won’t be doing it as a candidate for president this year.
It’s with a full heart that I share this news -- I’ve made the decision to suspend my campaign for president.
It was a difficult decision to make, but I got in this race to win, and I’ve always said I wouldn’t continue if there was no longer a path to victory.
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.
So I’ve chosen to suspend my campaign now, take care of my wonderful staff, and give you time to consider the other strong choices in the field.
I’m proud of the ideas we brought to this Democratic primary and, more importantly, the values we championed throughout -- that the only way we make progress is by bringing people together -- even when we were told that our approach couldn’t win. Because our values must always be our values, even when that’s not convenient.
Over the past eleven months of this campaign, we rallied around bold ideas to tackle some of the biggest challenges we face as a nation. We moved the debate forward on gun violence -- introducing a plan with the most aggressive gun safety measures our country had ever seen. We advocated for progressive, swift change to our criminal justice reform system. We fought to protect and strengthen reproductive rights and access to abortion. Together, we spoke out and stood up for people and communities that have been left out and left behind.
We never backed down from our commitment to being a campaign powered by the people. I’m so grateful to the supporters who invested time, money, and resources into building this organization. I’m forever indebted to you and your activism.
I will be doing everything in my power to elect the eventual Democratic nominee for president, whomever that may be, and to elect great Democrats to the Senate and up and down the ballot. 2020 is the most important election of our lifetimes -- we have to beat Donald Trump... but beating Trump is the floor, not the ceiling.
We must remember that throughout the campaign to come, and as we work to build a more just America in Trump’s wake. It’s activists like you who are going to be so important in this election and I feel so lucky to have you on my team.
We may have not reached our ultimate goal, but over the last year I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many incredible, inspiring, engaged people all over this country, and I am more confident now than ever that together we will rise.
Cory
