John Delaney Is Dropping Out Of The 2020 Presidential Race

Rep. John Delaney is ending his long-shot presidential bid, he announced Friday.

“It has been a privilege to campaign for the Democratic nomination for President, but it is clear that God has a different purpose for me at this moment in time," he said in a statement. "I leave this race with a profound sense of gratitude to the voters who shared with me their hopes and concerns for our magnificent country, in admiration for the other contenders for the nomination and proud of the work we did to change the debate."

Delaney, a Maryland Democrat, jumped into the race way earlier than most; he spent millions of his own money campaigning in Iowa. He ran as a center-left moderate, focused on public–private, technical solutions to major issues like climate change and improving the health care system — making implicit, and sometimes explicit, critiques of the ascendant left.

In his statement announcing he's dropping out of the 2020 race, he thanked his staff and supporters and then said the Democratic party needs to "restore a sense of unity and common purpose in our nation."

While the center of the national political conversation around health care has shifted left, into what's often framed as a choice between Obamacare and a much more expansive single-payer system, Delaney criticized Medicare for All.

"Let’s stop the nonsense of unrealistic and divisive campaign promises and be the party the American people need — a decent, unifying, future-focused and common-sense party. And please don’t listen to the cynics, the naysayers and the dividers; while we have significant challenges and too many Americans are struggling, the world gets better every year and the United States of America has driven much of this progress — let’s keep it that way," he said.