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Booker looks to drop out of race if fundraising falls short

By Sommer Brokaw
Democratic presidential hopeful Cory Booker said Saturday that he may have to drop out of the race if his campaign fundraising does not improve by Sept. 30. File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI
Democratic presidential hopeful Cory Booker said Saturday that he may have to drop out of the race if his campaign fundraising does not improve by Sept. 30. File Photo by Richard Ellis/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Cory Booker said Saturday that if he doesn't reach his fundraising goal by the end of the month -- nine days -- he will drop out of the race.

Sen. Booker, D-N.J., announced his dire fundraising situation in a tweet Saturday.

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"We are at a crossroads in this campaign," Booker tweeted. "We need to raise $1.7 million by Sept. 30 (the end of financial quarter) to be in a position to build the organization we need to compete for the nomination - - and we can do it - - but if we don't, we don't see a legitimate long-term path forward."

Booker's campaign manager, Addisu Demisse, told NBC News that Booker has enough money to keep campaigning at his current pace, but not enough to expand and he doesn't want to stay in the race if he doesn't think he can win.

"If our campaign is not in a financial position to grow, he's not going to continue to consume resources and attention that can be used to focus on beating Donald Trump, which needs to be everyone's first priority," Demissie wrote in a memo obtained by NBC News.

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"I want to be clear: This isn't an end-of-quarter stunt or another one of those memos from a campaign trying to spin the press," Demissie added. "This is a real, unvarnished look under the hood of our operation at a level of transparency unprecedented in modern presidential campaigns."

Booker is one of 10 Democrats who qualified for the third Democratic primary debate in Houston and have also already qualified for the fourth debate in Ohio in October, along with billionaire Tom Steyer, who recently reached the 2 percent required in a fourth approved poll to join the debate as well.

A day earlier New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ended his 2020 presidential bid as he failed to reach required polling and donation thresholds to make the third Democratic primary debate in Houston and the fourth in October.

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