Confirmed: Pete Buttigieg Dropping Out of Presidential Race

Democrat presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is dropping out of the race according to a report by California-based Politico reporter Carla Marinucci.

The 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who was mocked by President Trump for reminding him of the Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman, eked out a victory in the Iowa caucus but has failed to win a primary race since, however he is in third place in the delegate race with 26 compared to 50 for former Vice President Joe Biden and the 58 for Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) going in to Super Tuesday this week.

“New! BREAKING @PeteButtigieg to announce he is out of the presidential race, his staff now hearing the news in campaign call, sources tell us.”

New! BREAKING @PeteButtigieg to announce he is out of the presidential race, his staff now hearing the news in campaign call, sources tell us.

— Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) March 1, 2020

UODATE: The Los Angeles Times confirms, as does the AP:

Breaking: Pete Buttigieg drops out of the Democratic presidential race ahead of Super Tuesday https://t.co/XnCeRmFBQp

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 1, 2020

BREAKING: AP sources: Pete Buttigieg ending his race for Democratic presidential nomination. Find updates here: https://t.co/Z3ixkEGfDi

— The Associated Press (@AP) March 1, 2020

Buttigieg, a veteran, was the first openly gay man to run for president in a major party and is married to a man, Chasten Buttigieg.

One of the most lasting impressions, and controversial, of Buttigieg’s campaign was his bringing up on stage at a campaign rally a nine-year-old boy who claimed to also be gay and wanted his advice on coming out.

WATCH: During a campaign rally, a 9-year-old boy asked Pete Buttigieg advice for coming out as gay – so, the candidate invited him up on stage. https://t.co/MDc1Pe1CDs pic.twitter.com/2XCT6BCgLe

— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 24, 2020

Buttigieg was mayor of South Bend from 2012-2020. He served in the Navy Reserve as in intelligence officer with the rank of lieutenant and was deployed once to Afghanistan.

Early analysis is that this will aid the stop-Bernie movement as Buttigieg voters prefer other candidates to Sanders, helping them to maintain viability:

Buttigieg dropping out is harmful to Sanders in 2 ways. Per the economist, relatively few Buttigieg voters were also considering Bernie. But, his voters will now help Biden, Warren and Bloomberg to hit 15% in more states and districts.https://t.co/4JApGxCCKx

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) March 1, 2020

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