Sen. Amy Klobuchar To Suspend Presidential Campaign

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is suspending her presidential campaign after failing to break into the top tier of Democratic candidates.

She plans to drop out of the race and endorse former Vice President Joe Biden in Dallas on Monday night, according to her campaign.

It's just hours before polls open in her home state of Minnesota on Super Tuesday.

Klobuchar saw a surge of momentum and fundraising after a strong debate performance and a third-place showing in the New Hampshire primary, but she struggled to expand or sustain that support as the primary moved into larger, more diverse states. She finished sixth, with just 3% of the vote in South Carolina on Saturday.

The senator from next-door Minnesota had campaigned heavily in Iowa. She had held nearly 200 events in the state, and traveled to all 99 of its counties but had long been in stuck in fifth in Iowa polls prior to the caucuses.

In Iowa and elsewhere during the campaign, Klobuchar often stressed her Midwestern roots and more moderate Democratic policies. She said she was a candidate who was able to get things done — and win in battleground areas.

She also touted several newspaper endorsements, including a co-endorsement (with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren) by The New York Times, an endorsement by the Quad-City Times in Iowa and endorsements by a few New Hampshire outlets, including the Union Leader in Manchester.

Klobuchar was one of four senators still running for president while also serving as jurors in the impeachment trial of President Trump. The trial's schedule disrupted the final weeks of campaigning around the Hawkeye State.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.