Pete Buttigieg Dropping Out Of US Presidential Race

Pete Buttigieg Dropping Out Of US Presidential Race

Washington (CNN) Pete Buttigieg will exit the Democratic presidential race on Sunday, multiple aides tell CNN, ending an campaign that vaulted the once-unknown mayor from South Bend, Indiana, to a top presidential contender.

Buttigieg's run was historic. He is the first openly gay man to launch a competitive campaign for president, and he broke barriers by becoming the first gay candidate to earn primary delegates for a major party's presidential nomination.

After initial success in Iowa and New Hampshire, Buttigieg's campaign struggled to win over voters of color, a key base to the Democratic Party, which hurt his performance in Nevada and South Carolina, two states where Buttigieg finished significantly behind the race's frontrunners.

Buttigieg was scheduled to fly from Selma, Alabama, to Dallas, Texas, on Sunday, but during the flight he informed reporters that he would be flying back to his hometown of South Bend to make an announcement on the future of his campaign. That announcement, aides said, is that he is ending his run.

Buttigieg made the decision on Sunday, aides said, after he struggled to compete in South Carolina's primary and had little path toward success on Super Tuesday.

"He believes this is the right thing to do right now for our country and the country to heal this divided nation and defeat President Trump," the aide said.

Pete Buttigieg had a plan for February. It didn't work out as he hoped.

The aide added: "He decided that now was the time and, I think that is exactly why he is getting out. He believes this is the right thing to do."

Buttigieg is not expected to endorse a candidate on Sunday night, aides told CNN. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Buttigieg have yet to connect but the two have traded voicemails today, a Biden aide tells CNN. A separate source familiar with the matter told CNN that there has been staff-level communication between the Buttigieg and Biden campaigns tonight, however.

Buttigieg ended his campaign with little-to-no path toward the nomination.

"He studied the math," a top Democrat familiar with the Buttigieg campaign said. "He knew there wasn't a path forward."

Buttigieg signaled throughout the final weeks of his campaign that he was aware the race was coming to a close. As Buttigieg warned supporters against nominating Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and his "inflexible, ideological revolution," his campaign released a memo days later worrying that Sanders could enjoy a "seemingly insurmountable delegate lead" after the Super Tuesday contests.

In the end, Buttigieg didn't make it to Super Tuesday.

Buttigieg's campaign, though, impressed a host of Democratic heavyweights, many of whom see the former mayor as a key figure in the future of the party. What comes next for the mayor remains unclear -- some top Democratic officials have speculated about a possible Cabinet position in a Democratic administration or another attempt at becoming the Democratic National Committee chairman, a job he ran for and lost in 2017.