Buttigieg exits, narrowing Democratic primary field

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg ended his campaign Sunday -- further narrowing the party primary race ahead of Super Tuesday.

The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor’s campaign is historic in that Buttigieg became the country’s first openly gay presidential candidate to win delegates. And his departure now likely sets up a two-person primary between frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, and former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s trying to win the moderate vote.

"The truth is our path has narrowed to a close," Buttigieg told a crowd in South Bend. "Tonight I am making the difficult decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency."

The 38-year-old Buttigieg spoke hours after aides informed news outlets that the campaign was coming to a close.   

Biden’s dominant primary win Saturday in South Carolina, largely on the strength of his support among African-American voters, vaulted him over Buttigieg in the delegate count ahead of Super Tuesday, in two days and in which roughly one-third of the 1,991 delegates needed to win the party nomination are in play. 

Though Buttigieg -- an articulate messenger and skilled debater -- won the Iowa Caucuses, problems with election night results robbed him of the momentum that comes with such a major victory. 

Consecutive second-, third- and fourth-place finishes in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, respectively, slowed fundraising. And Buttigieg's inability to win the minority vote severely hurt his national campaign and potential to do well on Tuesday, when voters in 14 states go the polls.