Richard Ojeda rebounded after losing his 2018 House bid with another longshot hope — the presidency. Now, he's abandoning that race too.
Ojeda, an Army veteran who's been described as "JFK with tattoos," became the first Democrat to announce a 2020 run just days after the midterms ended in November. But he rescinded that bid on Friday, saying he didn't want to "accept money from people who are struggling for a campaign that does not have the ability to compete" in a statement.
In 2016, President Trump won West Virginia's 3rd District by 49.3 points. Ojeda's Democratic run in the district seemed impossible, but he actually spent some time leading in the polls before going on to lose the race by 13 points. He admitted he'd voted for Trump during the run-up to the race, but later rescinded that support over Trump's zero tolerance policy that separated migrant families.
Ojeda pledged a populist approach in his presidential bid, saying the Democratic Party "is supposed to be the party that fights for the working class." He reiterated that mission even in his Friday statement, saying he would "continue raising my voice and highlighting the issues the working class, the sick, and the elderly face in this nation." Ojeda also thanked his "thousands of volunteers" for their support since November, and said he'd "have an announcement very soon about what my next steps will be." Read Ojeda's full statement here.
