Bernie Sanders drops out of presidential race

Former Vice President Joe Biden has a clear path to the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination after his final opponent exited the race. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced his decision to drop out on a phone call with campaign staff on Wednesday. Though Sanders did well in the first three primary contests and temporarily was the front-runner, Biden came on strong in South Carolina and solidified his lead on Super Tuesday.

Did COVID-19 affect Sanders’ campaign? The pandemic shut down in-person campaigning and Sanders’ massive and enthusiastic rallies. But he had already stopped accepting donations by the time most bans on large gatherings went into effect. Though he failed to broaden his support base of liberal voters, the self-proclaimed democratic-socialist pulled the Democratic Party leftward on environmental issues, healthcare, and income inequality during his presidential bids in 2016 and 2020.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Stew about how the coronavirus rattled presidential aspirants’ campaigns.