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Warren drops presidential bid

Outspoken progressive finished third in her home state's presidential primary

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts came in third in her home state's primary Tuesday.
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts came in third in her home state's primary Tuesday. (Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren ended her presidential campaign Thursday as the once-sprawling and diverse field narrowed to a contest between former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Warren shot to the front of the pack soon after she launched her bid in February 2019 with her catchphrase, “Warren has a plan for that” capturing the wonky intellectualism and seemingly endless energy she brought to the race.

A former Harvard professor and expert in bankruptcy law, Warren proposed eliminating student loan debt and introducing free public college — programs she would pay for with a 2 percent wealth tax.

She was a co-sponsor, with Sanders, of the Green New Deal and the 2017 Senate “Medicare for All” bill. But her embrace of such proposals opened her to attacks from more moderate opponents, and after attacks in a December debate she issued a revised plan saying she would not seek to end private insurance immediately after taking office.

That left an opening for Sanders to claim the role of standard bearer for progressive Democrats, a position that was sealed with Sanders’ success in the early primaries. Warren, meanwhile, finished third in Iowa, beginning a slide that was capped with a humiliating third-place finish with 21 percent of the vote in her home state on Super Tuesday.

Warren’s polling average on Real Clear Politics Thursday was 13.5 percent, putting her well behind Biden and Sanders, who were at 27.5 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

With moderate contenders in the race dropping out and throwing their weight behind Biden in the past week, Warren has been under increased pressure from progressives to end her bid to consolidate support for Sanders.

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