Everything You Need To Know About Who Dropped Out Of The 2020 Presidential Race

A lot of folks are running for President in 2020. And we mean, a lot. In several ways, that is emblematic of a larger theoretical creed: That anyone can aim for the big, boss-of-America position if you're at least 35 years old. In practice... Well, some days it might be a little bit of a headache, especially in case you could no longer keep track of who, exactly, is running and why.


The lead-up to the 2020 race has seen Senators, Congresspeople, Governors, former politicians, novelists, and businesspeople all throw their proverbial hats into the ring. Several of these folks are vying for the Democratic nomination, which will be determined in July of next year. However while there really is still plenty of road left in 2019, some hopefuls are already bowing out of the competition, and are setting their eyes on other prizes.


Who has determined to drop out? What will they do next? And what impact did they have on the 2020 race in general? Here's your guide to the former contenders.


Mike Gravel


The teen-led Twitter account for former Senator Mike Gravel reported they were ending the campaign on August 6 (RIP to the #Gravelanch.) In closing the often viral, humorous effort, Henry Williams and David Oks reminded readers: "This was not a 'campaign' in the strict sense: we never wanted to win, and routinely made that clear. The campaign wasn’t about Mike as much as it was in his honor —nit was a crowdsourced and intimately democratic project, about ideas rather than individuals." They highlighted the resonance the campaign had with young people before formally endorsing Senator Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination.


Jay Inslee


On August 21, the governor of Washington told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that he was officially dropping out of the Presidential race, however will continue to be vocal on a national level about his number one priority: the climate crisis. "I’m going to help all of the other candidates raise their level of ambition on this. We need all of these to raise their game," he said.


Inslee campaigned on a platform that focused almost entirely on the climate crisis, so if he dropped out, other candidates thanked him for prioritizing the environment and promised to pick up where he left off.


John Hickenlooper


A week immediately after his August 15 announcement that he was no longer running for President, the former governor of Colorado revealed his bid for Senate against Republican Cory Gardner. (The state's other Senator, Democrat Michael Bennet, is now running for President.) "I know changing Washington is hard, nevertheless I'd like to give it a shot," he mentioned any time announcing his new campaign. "I'm not done fighting for the people of Colorado."


Eric Swalwell


The Democrat, who is now serving as a Representative for California's 15th district, announced the end to his campaign on July 8. Swalwell plans to run as an incumbent for his seat in the 2020 election.


He had entered the race by focusing on his gun-control policies, which included a call to close the loopholes that activists mention contribute to gun violence along with implementing a federal gun buyback program for assault weapons. He procured national attention while in the initial Democratic primary debates in late June any time if he targeted Joe Biden with a speech the former Vice President had given decades ago: "A presidential candidate came to the California Democratic convention and mentioned it is about time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans. That candidate was then-Senator Joe Biden. He was right as soon as he mentioned that 32 years back. He is still right today."