WiNK

This week, Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris announced that she was dropping out of the race. Her abrupt departure surprised me, as she was once considered one of the top candidates to win the Democratic Nomination and qualified for the December debates. Although this event was a shock, there were many underlying causes that forced her to drop out.

In the first 24 hours after Harris announced her campaign, she received over $1.5 million in donations, tying a donation record set by Bernie Sanders in 2016. She was also a high-profile candidate, and she gained supporters by her policies and intentions if elected as President. After the first five debates, where at first, Harris was performing very well, she started to fade out, but by the fifth debate, analysts saw a performance similar to the first debate.

Although she received many donations from supporters and additionally raised money for causes that she is passionate about, as her campaign came to an unexpected close, it was faced with many issues. Her campaign laid off dozens of their staff in late October, which was a result of her slowly losing money for the campaign. Compared to some of the other high-profile candidates, Harris' income is much less than theirs. When she announced her departure, Harris said "I'm not a billionaire. I can't fund my own campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it's become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete."

The amount of money that a Presidential candidate needs in order to keep their campaign thriving is important in many aspects of running for President. For example, one has to pay their employees, get advertisements up and running, donate to important causes, and get donations from supporters; this requires a large amount of money, and according to Harris, she and her campaign just didn't have the funds they needed to thrive.

Harris' departure, although a surprise, may allow her to be a running mate for whomever wins the Democratic nomination. Her popularity within Democrats could help her successfully do this, but since she fell to issues with funding and depending on who wins the Democratic nomination, we may not see her in a role as publicized soon.