Presidential candidate Mike Gravel, a former Democratic senator from Alaska, plans to abandon his White House campaign and donate its remaining funds to charity, his office announced Friday.
“The campaign is nearing its conclusion, and we’re wondering where to donate the left-over funds,” Mr. Gravel’s staff said on Twitter. “Any thoughts on the most deserving charity?”
A follow-up tweet asked social media users to pick from three causes – the water crisis in Flint, Michigan; the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, or RAICES; and an unspecified “Yemen-related charity.”
“[W]e should note that the campaign is not over yet, we’re still trying to qualify, but we’ve always planned to have it end sometime in the next month or so,” the account tweeted later.
Mr. Gravel, 89, represented Alaska in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1981, serving as of one of the loudest critics of Vietnam War on Capitol Hill during its height. He later unsuccessfully ran for president 2008 as a Democrat and then as a Libertarian.
He officially launched his 2020 campaign in early April, but he failed to qualify for either of the first two Democratic candidate debates televised last month.
Mr. Gravel’s office expects between $100,000 and $150,000 will be left over by the time he throws in the towel, his staff said on Twitter.
More than two dozen candidates are currently seeking the Democratic nomination to compete against President Trump in 2020, including current frontrunners former Vice President Joseph R. Biden and Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont Independent....