BOSTON - In this year's 2020 election cycle, there is now one fewer candidate who will be representing the great state of Massachusetts. The former governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, has dropped out of the race to be the nominee from the Democratic Party in the national election, as confirmed by The New York Times.

There are now just eight nominees remaining in contention after Patrick dropped out and only one is a person of color, Tulsi Gabbard, whose days in the race are similarly numbered. Governor Patrick was never seen to be a genuine contender for the race, after he joined it in the middle of November 2019, well after many other candidates had been campaigning for some time. He was hardly a blip on anyone's radar and he did not even get to the point of being parodied on Saturday Night Live. That's when you know it is rough.

This news comes in the wake of a number of other major events in the Democratic party race. Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur, and a progressive candidate, also dropped out earlier this week. His campaign conclusion was met with much more respect and well wishes than Patrick's. The former MA governor seemed to drop out with little to no fanfare after many forgot that he was even running for the position, to begin with.

Additionally, Patrick and Yang both suspended their campaigns after performing poorly in the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary, two of the major harbingers of future success for politically-charged candidates. Yang finished sixth in the Iowa Caucus, receiving one percent of votes and no delegates. Patrick finished eighth with zero percent and zero delegates. Yang and Patrick finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in New Hampshire. The lack of delegates here was enough to push them out of the race.

The campaign has essentially become a four-horse race on the Democratic side, as Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Elizabeth Warren seem to be the only candidates with a real shot left. Even Joe Biden's stock is fading fast. We might not know who the nominee will be yet, but we certainly know it won't be Patrick.

Image via Wikimedia Commons