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March 5 (UPI) -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren suspended her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, two days after she failed to win a single state primary -- including her home state of Massachusetts. Warren made the announcement in a lengthy conference call with staff and supporters.
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"I know that when we set out, this was not what you ever wanted to hear. It is not the call I ever wanted to make," she said. "But I refuse to let disappointment blind me -- or you -- to what we've accomplished.
"This campaign became something special, and it wasn't because of me. It was because of you. I am so proud of how you all fought this fight alongside me: You fought it with empathy and kindness and generosity -- and of course, with enormous passion and grit."
Warren consistently placed third and fourth on Super Tuesday and said the following day she would assess the future of her campaign. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- who competed against Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the primaries Tuesday -- dropped out of the race Wednesday.
Warren's departure makes the Democratic campaign a two-man race between Biden and Sanders. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is officially still in the race, but she has not been in serious campaigning mode for months.
Three other Democratic candidates -- Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and entrepreneur Tom Steyer left the race in the days leading up to Super Tuesday. Each endorsed Biden, as did Bloomberg during his announcement.
Warren competed with Sanders for months on the party's progressive flank, but lost ground as the Vermont senator picked up many young progressives and earned significant Hispanic support in California. Warren lost the primary in her home state to Biden, winning just 21 percent of the vote.
After seeing her popularity rise last summer and into the fall, Warren's path to the White House was first dented by a third-place showing in the Iowa caucuses, and then again by fourth-place finishes in both New Hampshire and Nevada and a fifth-place finish in South Carolina last weekend.
Like Sanders, Warren refused to accept donations from corporate-funded political action committees and campaigned on a staunchly progressive platform advocating a fierce fight against corruption and the influence of money in politics. She was an early advocate of eliminating role of private insurance in healthcare, at first touting a "Medicare for All" plan but later scaling back to a more modest "public option" plan after receiving sustained criticism from moderate Democratic rivals.
