Today, Peter DeBenedittis released this announcement:

Hello,

Today I am ending my campaign for Governor of New Mexico.

As incredibly sad as I've been making this decision, I'm also feeling intense gratitude for all the support, help, and meaningful connections I've experienced over the past year.

It's been a true honor being able to carry the flag for the basic human decency expressed in policies like living wages, single-payer health care for all New Mexicans, and committing to 100% renewable energy. But truth be told, every step of the way I've been standing on your shoulders—through your donations, sharing of ideas and concerns, volunteering, and other heartfelt expressions of support. Tracy and I are humbled and awed by the love we've been shown along the way. Every single day since we've started, at least one person contacted us to say "thank your for running."

But the reality is we thank you

I entered this campaign knowing just how narrow and steep a road I had to victory. Over the past few weeks, our campaign needed several things to break in our direction for the campaign to be viable, and none of them did. Grassroots fundraising efforts never took off to the levels necessary to sustain a state-wide organization, and too few progressive groups came on board early enough to tap in to their volunteers in order to mount a successful delegate drive for the pre-primary convention.

Part of why I'm dropping out also had to do with Democratic Party insiders who actively tilted the playing field in favor of their preferred corporate candidate. Please check out the speech I gave on Saturday at the Democratic Convention on Saturday for more on how this obstacle affected the race: WATCH HERE.

Seeing the handwriting on the wall, I asked delegates supporting me at the convention to vote for Jeff Apodaca. I did this because I could not in good conscience allow OUR party to unfairly shut out all progressive voices.

Those of you who know me know my candidacy has never been about name and fame. Since day one, I've been in it to advance issues that help people the most. That's why I'm willing to end my campaign to make sure there is a candidate still in the race to carry forward critical issues like single-payer health care through the New Mexico Health Security Act, $15 an hour wages, creating a publicly-owned state bank, and committing to 100% renewable energy in 8-10 years.

Part of what helped me make the decision to run was a passage in the book No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller. Author Harry Markopolos described how the Army colonel he worked for called in his entire staff to ask them what their biggest failure was. He fired anyone who didn't have a big failure because that person wasn't trying hard enough to make things happen. Being inspired by this, I entered the race never worrying about whether my campaign would succeed or fail.

Looking back, our People First campaign has been a great success

All of New Mexico's candidates for Lt. Governor are now on the record supporting a publicly-owned state bank. Jeff Apodaca has now added single-payer health care, 100% renewable energy, and a state bank to his campaign of big ideas to create new jobs. And the press and public now regularly ask the other candidates about these issues and challenge them with questions about why they're not supporting them.

Together, we made this difference. New Mexico will soon be enjoying these and other progressive policies because of your efforts.

Thank you,

Peter D.

Hello,

Today I am ending my campaign for Governor of New Mexico.

As incredibly sad as I've been making this decision, I'm also feeling intense gratitude for all the support, help, and meaningful connections I've experienced over the past year.

It's been a true honor being able to carry the flag for the basic human decency expressed in policies like living wages, single-payer health care for all New Mexicans, and committing to 100% renewable energy. But truth be told, every step of the way I've been standing on your shoulders—through your donations, sharing of ideas and concerns, volunteering, and other heartfelt expressions of support. Tracy and I are humbled and awed by the love we've been shown along the way. Every single day since we've started, at least one person contacted us to say "thank your for running."

But the reality is we thank you

I entered this campaign knowing just how narrow and steep a road I had to victory. Over the past few weeks, our campaign needed several things to break in our direction for the campaign to be viable, and none of them did. Grassroots fundraising efforts never took off to the levels necessary to sustain a state-wide organization, and too few progressive groups came on board early enough to tap in to their volunteers in order to mount a successful delegate drive for the pre-primary convention.

Part of why I'm dropping out also had to do with Democratic Party insiders who actively tilted the playing field in favor of their preferred corporate candidate. Please check out the speech I gave on Saturday at the Democratic Convention on Saturday for more on how this obstacle affected the race: WATCH HERE.

Seeing the handwriting on the wall, I asked delegates supporting me at the convention to vote for Jeff Apodaca. I did this because I could not in good conscience allow OUR party to unfairly shut out all progressive voices.

Those of you who know me know my candidacy has never been about name and fame. Since day one, I've been in it to advance issues that help people the most. That's why I'm willing to end my campaign to make sure there is a candidate still in the race to carry forward critical issues like single-payer health care through the New Mexico Health Security Act, $15 an hour wages, creating a publicly-owned state bank, and committing to 100% renewable energy in 8-10 years.

Part of what helped me make the decision to run was a passage in the book No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller. Author Harry Markopolos described how the Army colonel he worked for called in his entire staff to ask them what their biggest failure was. He fired anyone who didn't have a big failure because that person wasn't trying hard enough to make things happen. Being inspired by this, I entered the race never worrying about whether my campaign would succeed or fail.

Looking back, our People First campaign has been a great success

All of New Mexico's candidates for Lt. Governor are now on the record supporting a publicly-owned state bank. Jeff Apodaca has now added single-payer health care, 100% renewable energy, and a state bank to his campaign of big ideas to create new jobs. And the press and public now regularly ask the other candidates about these issues and challenge them with questions about why they're not supporting them.

Together, we made this difference. New Mexico will soon be enjoying these and other progressive policies because of your efforts.

Thank you,

Peter D.