Julian Castro Ends 2020 Presidential Bid

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro announced Thursday he is ending his campaign for president, because “it simply isn’t our time.”

“It’s with profound gratitude to all of our supporters that I suspend my campaign for president today,” Castro wrote in a tweet. “I’m so proud of everything we’ve accomplished together. I’m going to keep fighting for an America where everyone counts—I hope you’ll join me in that fight.”

His campaign outlasted several congressmen, senators and current and former governors, but failed to pick up traction. Castro did not meet the polling threshold for the two most recent primary debates, and was likely to miss the next debate later this month as well.

His exit means there are no Latino candidates in the field.

He is the latest candidate of color to end their presidential bid, following Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) last month, and his departure has caused some to express concern over lack of diversity in the Democratic primary field.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) said Castro would become “yet another person of color exiting a field of candidates that began as the most diverse in our nation’s history” in a fundraising email on Thursday. He called Castro’s exit “a loss for our party and this nominating process.”

“Here’s the reality,” Booker wrote in the email. “It seems like billionaires with bottomless checkbooks have a clearer path to the nomination than talented, experienced, qualified candidates” like Castro. Booker appeared to be taking a shot at Mike Bloomberg, a multibillionaire who recently entered the race.