Williamson received more votes this time around than during his 2020 campaign, which was marred by staffing issues. But she was unable to build a broad enough coalition to threaten Biden's claim to the nomination. The Democratic National Committee chose not to hold any primary debates and largely ignored Williamson's candidacy.
During Williamson's campaign, he met with four campaign managers, among them Carlos Cardona, a local New Hampshire pol with long tenure. After the New Hampshire primary, when Williamson received 4 percent of the vote, he announced his withdrawal from the campaign.
“I read a quote the other day that says sunsets are proof that results can be beautiful,” Williamson said in a video message to supporters that ended his campaign. “Today, even though it's time to suspend my campaign for the presidency, I want to see beauty.”
But like much of the campaign, even Williamson's suspension was poorly executed.
After the New Hampshire primary, Williamson called with volunteers to announce the end of his presidential bid. Not only was he behind a write-in campaign to vote for Biden, who did not campaign in the state, but he also finished off Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who ran only last October.
“This is how I feel right now – please, I'm begging you not to do this again. I don't want the press to get into this. … My thoughts now are the power move is to suspend the campaign,” the X account said in a video of the call shared by OrganizerMemes.
Williamson posted a letter announcing his withdrawal from the race on his ActBlue page, a site used by Democrats to solicit political donations, screenshots of which were also shared on X.
“I am suspending my campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for President as of today. “While I believe we can make a breakthrough in New Hampshire, in the final analysis we cannot compete with the multi-million dollar SUPER PAC funded TV and Internet ad campaigns,” the letter said.
It added that ActBlue would be on hand to accept donations to pay off campaign debts. According to the last financial disclosures, the campaign owes about $593,000.
Williamson also paid about $470,000 To keep his campaign afloat.
Williamson said in an X post that he had been hacked and vowed to stay in the race.
The author kicked off his second campaign for president at Union Station in Washington, D.C., where he moved after his first bid for the Oval Office in 2020. He was the first challenger to Biden's re-election bid to register support in the polls, but hit a ceiling. About 10 percent, which is about where he entered the competition.
Williamson has not said whether he will seek re-election. But he will return to the world of literature with a new book to be released in May. Williamson delayed the publication of The Mystic Jesus: The Mind of Love last fall after the book's announcement attracted accusations that the campaign to promote the book was “cruel”.
