WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, a fierce critic of President Donald Trump who had pushed early for his impeachment, deserted his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Saturday after trailing in third place within the South Carolina main, a marketing campaign supply instructed Reuters.
Steyer, who poured tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} of his personal cash into his quest, dropped out of the race on the day of his strongest exhibiting but in a 2020 Democratic nominating contest. Even so, he completed far behind winner Joe Biden and second-place finisher Bernie Sanders.
“Truthfully, I can’t see a path the place I can win the presidency,” Steyer instructed supporters in South Carolina.
“I like you very a lot, this has been a terrific expertise, I’ve zero regrets. Assembly you and the folks of America has been a spotlight of my life.”
The 62-year-old former hedge fund supervisor from San Francisco portrayed himself as a political outsider and blasted company cash in U.S. politics in July, when he joined a discipline of two dozen Democrats looking for to disclaim Trump, a Republican, a second time period.
He poured $64.7 million of his personal wealth in January into his bid for the Democratic nomination, bringing his complete marketing campaign spending to $267 million.
Like fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg, Steyer drew criticism from different Democrats as attempting to purchase his strategy to the nomination. Spending tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars}, nonetheless, didn’t win the extent of assist from voters wanted.
Steyer stated he would assist the eventual Democratic nominee.
Steyer amassed a fortune, estimated by Forbes journal at $1.6 billion, after founding funding agency Farallon Capital Administration within the mid-1980s and serving as a companion at San Francisco personal fairness agency Hellman & Friedman.
In January 2019, he had stated he was passing on a 2020 run to concentrate on efforts to question Trump and get Democrats elected to the U.S. Congress.
Steyer has been a drive in Democratic fundraising over the previous decade. Throughout the 2018 election cycle, he was the second-largest donor to Democratic and liberal candidates and causes, in response to the Middle for Responsive Politics.
He has labored for years on local weather change and voter engagement and donated about $170 million since 2015 to his impartial political motion committees, Must Impeach and NextGen America.
Steyer billed himself as the one candidate who would make local weather change his No. 1 precedence as president. “It’s a state of emergency and I’d declare a state of emergency on Day One,” he stated throughout a November debate.
