Buttigieg resigns over Democratic nomination

Pete Buttigieg announced that he was resigning to run for the Democratic Party's nomination in November’s US presidential election to “help unite our party and our country.”

Buttigieg, 38, announced his decision in his hometown of South Bend, Indiana, of which he was mayor, the day after the South Carolina primaries, in which he finished only fourth with a weak score of 8.3 percent, and two days before the so-called "south Carolina" vote.

The primaries in South Carolina were won by former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who, like Buttigieg, is a moderate representative in the Democratic Party. Buttigieg is estimated to have retired from the presidential race to strengthen Biden's position, which has only one victory in the primaries.

Buttigieg's decision, however, comes as a surprise, because despite defeat in South Carolina, he has previously achieved good results in several other states, including a victory in the first Democratic primaries in Iowa, where he narrowly defeated Sanders.

(PAP)