Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) announced Monday that she is suspending her Democratic presidential campaign and will endorse former Vice President Joe Biden.
Klobuchar’s campaign told the Associated Press Monday that she plans to join Biden at his rally in Dallas, Texas, on the eve of Super Tuesday.
Last month, Klobuchar finished third place in the New Hampshire primary, but was unable to replicate that success in any other Democratic nominating contest.
Klobuchar is the second midwestern moderate to drop out in two days: Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who eked out a victory in Iowa, also left the race over the weekend. He has not yet announced an endorsement.
Both departures — and Klobuchar’s endorsement — could aid Biden.
“The race is going to shift more toward the Midwest and the Northeast in the coming weeks,” Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told TPM.
“Biden, based on Iowa and New Hampshire, did really poorly in the two examples of that region. Anything that can help him get higher in those places is helpful to him.”
The three-term senator hoped to appeal to moderate Democrats during her campaign. However, she faced a crowded field, including Biden, Sanders, and fellow midwesterner and former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg. Buttigieg — who announced his presidential campaign withdrawal Sunday night — gained momentum after coming neck to neck in the Iowa caucuses against Sanders.
Throughout her campaign, Klobuchar fielded questions regarding her time as a prosecutor. Klobuchar’s office in Minneapolis prosecuted the case of Myon Burrell, a black teenager accused of the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old girl, in 2002. The Minnesota senator referenced the story during her campaign to showcase her toughness on crime.
Klobuchar’s withdrawal comes on the heels of her cancellation of a rally scheduled in her home state of Minnesota Sunday night after Black Lives Matter protesters took over the stage on behalf of Burrell.
