Marianne Williamson drops out of 2020 race

Author Marianne Williamson dropped out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary on Friday, writing in a note to supporters on her website that her campaign would not be able to get enough votes “to elevate our conversation any more than it is now.”

“I stayed in the race to take advantage of every possible effort to share our message. With caucuses and primaries now about to begin, however, we will not be able to garner enough votes in the election to elevate our conversation any more than it is now,” Williamson said in the statement. 

“The primaries might be tightly contested among the top contenders, and I don’t want to get in the way of a progressive candidate winning any of them,” she continued. 

Williamson also pledged to support the eventual Democratic nominee in the general election against President Trump. 

“I wish you all my best on the road ahead. It was an honor being among you,” she said. “Whichever one of you wins the nomination, I will be there with all my energy and in full support.”

A number of recent signs pointed to a flailing campaign that had failed to gain traction in the polls.

The candidate, known for her spiritual references, laid off her entire campaign staff earlier this month. A former staffer told The Hill that financial pressures were behind the layoffs.

Williamson raised just over $3 million in the third quarter of 2019, but spent roughly 94 percent of what she took in.

Williamson garnered attention for a number of one-liners during the first and second primary debates.

“If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I’m afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days,” Williamson said at the presidential debate in July.

Williamson became the most-searched-for candidate on the Internet during the same debate.

However, Williamson often made it a point to combat descriptions of her as an unserious candidate.  

“The establishment media sees me as a real threat to the status quo,” she told Hill.TV in July. “People are so invested in creating this false narrative about me as the ‘crystal lady,’ ‘wacky new-age nutcase.’ If you really think about it, I must be doing something right that they’re so scared.”

— Updated at 1:12 p.m.