Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick dropped out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday, following the New Hampshire primary.
Patrick announced his bid to run for president on Nov. 14, less than three months before nominating contests were set to begin. He barely received support in either the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary.
"The vote in New Hampshire last night was not enough for us to create the practical wind at the campaign's back to go on to the next round of voting," Patrick, 63, said in a statement Wednesday. "So I have decided to suspend the campaign, effective immediately."
His departure, which follows Sen. Michael Bennet and Andrew Yang dropping out Tuesday night, leaves eight candidates in the Democratic primary field. Also with Patrick and Yang suspending their campaigns, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii is now the only person of color remaining in the race.
Patrick never gained traction in national polls, according to RealClearPolitics survey averages, and failed to qualify for Democratic debates.
He failed to register in the Iowa caucuses, the first 2020 primary contest, receiving 0% of the vote and no delegates, NBC News reported. In New Hampshire, he received just 0.4% of the vote.
The moderate Democrat came into the race with baggage from his time as managing director of investment firm Bain Capital, a private equity firm that counted Mitt Romney as a co-founder. He joined in 2015 after leaving the governor's office and stepped down just a day before announcing his presidential bid.
Rival candidates, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have criticized the industry for loading up companies with debt, forcing them into bankruptcy and eliminating jobs.
In a statement to CNBC in November, Patrick's campaign defended the candidate's work at Bain Capital, saying the Double Impact Fund that Patrick worked on while at the firm "invested in mission-driven companies that target both social and environmental good."