Gov. Inslee ends campaign for president

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has ended his campaign for president.

Inslee made the announcement Wednesday night.

In an email to supporters, Inslee said he would not be high enough in the polls to qualify to participate in the fall debates between Democratic Party candidates for president.

“As a result, I don’t believe we can compete for the attention and exposure needed to have a reasonable shot at the nomination,” Inslee wrote.

“As disappointing as this is, it is only right to recognize what we have accomplished and how far we have come together,” he added. “As a governor, I came into this race with zero federal dollars, a small state-based email list, and limited name recognition, yet together we hit a target that half of the field has not hit — the [Democratic National Committee’s] grassroots supporter metric.

Inslee also said he had made climate change a major issue in the presidential race.

“Many of the campaigns started with little attention to climate, but since our campaign began, we’ve seen almost every serious candidate put out a climate plan; we’ve seen climate come up in both debates; and we now have two networks hosting nationally-televised climate forums in September. Most importantly, we have introduced a detailed and comprehensive policy blueprint for bold climate action and transformation to a clean energy economy.

“We will fight to ensure this gold standard of climate action is adopted and executed by our party and our next president,” Inlsee added.

In the email, Inslee did not say if he would run again for re-election as governor, but hinted that an announcement would be made soon.

“As we turn to the future, I will have more to say about what comes next for me in the days ahead. I can assure you that I will continue to lead, to demand bold action, and to do everything in my power to ensure the fight to defeat climate change stays at the top of the national agenda.

“But for now, I want to once again thank everyone who helped in this effort. We have so much to be proud of. Make no mistake, we also have a lot more work to do,” he added. “So early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and organize. Together we will continue the fight to defeat the climate crisis.”

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