What’s the Main Reason Women Candidates Drop Out Early? Take One Gue$$

Months before a single primary vote is cast, the lineup is set for this Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate. We will watch a group of predominantly white and male candidates take to the stage. It will be a far cry from the once historically diverse field with a record number of women. 

How did we get to this point? Political fundraising disparities played a large role, a reality that Senators Kamala Harris and Kirsten Gillibrand acknowledged in their early exits from the race.

Fundraising challenges are not uncommon for women seeking political office. Although women candidates overall raise comparable amounts of political contributions as men, they typically do so in smaller increments, meaning that they must work harder to reach the same goal. Black women face particular barriers to fundraising, with one study reporting that black women running as U.S. House general election candidates in 2018 raised half as much as white women candidates that year.

Read more at The Daily Beast.