MARTIN O'MALLEY is a progressive, he just never got the attention his campaign should have. I hope he realizes that the best chance he has to see his policies enacted is by asking the delegates he has won in Iowa to support Bernie Sanders and that he campaigns for Bernie. From the +Washington Post .....
Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley speaks to workers at his Iowa campaign headquarters in Des Moines on Monday. (Dave Kaup/Reuters)
Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley was set to announce the suspension of his presidential campaign on Monday night, following a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses that effectively ended his long-simmering White House ambitions.
O’Malley, who had started laying the groundwork for a presidential bid following his 2010 reelection as governor, was lagging far behind former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. With nearly 70 percent of precincts reporting, O’Malley registered support from only 1 percent of voters.
O’Malley was expected to announce to a gathering of supporters Monday night that he is suspending his campaign, according to someone directly familiar with his plans.
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“In a tough, unprecedented year, O’Malley spent more time in Iowa than any other candidate and remained the most accessible,” the associate said. “He ran an energetic and honorable campaign — leading the field with the most bold progressive policy proposals, and he successfully pushed the other candidates on gun safety, immigration, and climate policy.”
O’Malley’s effort to cast himself as at the forefront of a “new generation of leadership” never gained traction, as he struggled to raise money and get a toehold in the polls after formally announcing his bid in late May in Baltimore.
Though O’Malley, 53, appeared to be well-liked by many of the Iowa caucus-goers whose support he tirelessly courted, he was unable to make a compelling argument as to why they should side with him over Clinton, a Democrat backed by much of the party establishment, and Sanders, an insurgent candidate who captivated a restless left wing of the party.
In some respects, O’Malley’s failure to connect was surprising given a litany of accomplishments as governor that made liberals sworn: legalization of same-sex marriage, repeal of the death penalty and passage of Maryland’s version of the Dream Act to benefit college-bound undocumented immigrants.
O’Malley’s bid suffered a series of setbacks — some of his own making, some not — that began even before he declared his candidacy.
Anthony G. Brown, O’Malley’s hand-picked successor for governor of Maryland, a heavily Democratic state, suffered a humiliating defeat to a Republican in a 2014 race that in many respects turned into a referendum of O’Malley’s tenure, which included not only his progressive policy victories but also as a series of tax increases. The loss gave pause to some in the Democratic donor community just as they were evaluating O’Malley as a credible Clinton alternative.
The month before O’Malley announced his bid, riots broke out in Baltimore following the death of a young black man in police custody. The episode sparked renewed criticism of O’Malley’s policing policies during the seven years he had served as mayor of the city, with his critics charging his “zero tolerance” approach strained relations with the African American community.
The riots undercut O’Malley’s ability to sell Baltimore’s renaissance, a theme he pushed during a couple of years on the Democratic party dinner circuit during his run-up to launching a full-fledged presidential campaign.
After remaining coy about his intentions during the first half of last year, O’Malley announced his candidacy in late May, more than four months after he stepped down as governor. He said he needed the time to generate some income for his family, but many Democratic analysts argued that he had lost valuable time trying to become better known on the national stage.
By the time O’Malley did make his bid official, interest in Sanders, a self-described “democratic socialist” whom pundits initially wrote off as a fringe candidate, was starting to swell. As Sanders drew eye-poppingly large crowds on the campaign trail, he became the go-to candidate for many party activists who viewed Clinton as too tied to Wall Street and corporate interests.
Early on, O’Malley adopted much of the “rigged economy” rhetoric of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who had been urged to run for president by legions of left-wing activists. Once it became clear the vast majority of her supporters had found a home with Sanders, O’Malley recast his candidacy as one of a leader ‘with 15 years of executive experience” — something voters didn’t seem to be looking for in a cycle where anger and anti-establishment rhetoric has been rewarded.
For O’Malley, the race was a constant struggle to become better known. He cried foul when the Democratic National Committee announced that it would limit the number of Democratic presidential debates to six, only four of which would take place before the first nominating contests in Iowa. O’Malley accused the DNC of “circling the wagons” to protect Clinton. He got attention for the charge but didn’t seem to benefit much from the debates that were held.
Even as his prospects appeared dim, O’Malley remained a happy warrior on the campaign trail. Ever since his days a Baltimore city council member, he has had a side career as a musician, fronting a Celtic rock band called O’Malley’s March. At the end of his campaign events, he would frequently play a song for his audiences on a borrowed guitar.
O’Malley’s optimism seemed to spring from his experiences decades earlier as a young campaign staffer on the 1984 presidential hopeful Gary Hart. In the months leading up to the Iowa caucuses that year, Hart lagged in the polls. He managed to pull off a better-than-expected showing in Iowa, however, which catapulted him to a win in New Hampshire and made him the chief challenger for the nomination going forward to establishment favorite Walter Mondale.
Throughout this campaign, O’Malley’s fundraising was dwarfed by that of his two rivals. During the final quarter of the year, he reported receipts of $1.5 million, including a $500,000 loan, compared to $37 million for Clinton and $33.6 million for Sanders. The disparity hurt O’Malley in a number of ways, including making it impossible for him to air television ads in the early nominating states, as Clinton and Sanders have done.
In the closing weeks of the race, O’Malley remained a figure still unknown among large swaths of the American public. Shortly before the Iowa caucuses, late night television host Jimmy Kimmel ran a segment in which an interviewer showed people on the streets of Los Angeles a picture of O’Malley and asked if they knew who he was. It took more than a dozen tries before someone could identify him.
It’s unclear what O’Malley’s next step will be. He is a lawyer by training, and has served as a visiting professor at the business school at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. O’Malley has said he has no interested in a Cabinet position in another Democratic administration.
John Wagner is a political reporter covering the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
Campaign 
2016
2016Iowa caucus election results
The Iowa caucuses are Feb. 1. Delegates at stake: 30 Republican, 44 Democratic.
Democratic
- Leader
- Winner
- Population
- Updates
| CANDIDATE | SDEs | % | DEL |
|---|---|---|---|
Clinton
| 579 | 50% | 18 |
Sanders
| 568 | 49% | 19 |
O'Malley
| 7 | 1% | 0 |
Uncommitted
| 1 | 0% | 0 |
Republican
- Leader
- Winner
- Population
- Updates
| CANDIDATE | VOTES | % | DEL |
|---|---|---|---|
Cruz
| 43,550 | 28% | -- |
Trump
| 38,358 | 24% | -- |
Rubio
| 36,065 | 23% | -- |
Carson
| 14,609 | 9% | -- |
Paul
| 7,103 | 5% | -- |
What to watch for in Iowa
Observers often focus on the top three finishers in Iowa. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are in a tight race on the Democratic side. Donald Trump leads the GOP, followed by Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in a more distant third, according to the latest polling.
Results are expected after 8:30 p.m. Eastern time.
Past votes
Whom did voters pick in previous elections and who won the nomination? Here's a historic look at votes cast in Iowa. Dots show what percent of the vote a candidate received and white dots show who won the eventual nomination. Nominees with a star went on to be elected president.
Source: Post research
Latest polls
Here’s a look at how the presidential candidates are faring in Iowa. Each dot represents a candidate's five most recent surveys. Filled dots show a candidate's polling average.
In the Republican race, Donald Trump is in the lead with six points over Ted Cruz. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders trails Hillary Clinton by one point.
Last updated: Jan. 31
Source: Washington Post analysis and data from Huffington Post's Pollster.
Independent expenditures
Super PACs have spent $43.3 million supporting and opposing current presidential candidates in Iowa. The super PACs are technically independent. They are required to identify the money they spend in favor of or against specific candidates.
Last updated: Feb. 1, 2016
Note: Candidates with no associated independent spending not shown.
Source: Federal Election Commission
Top national fundraisers
Area of rectangles represents total campaign contributions for each candidate nationally. The shaded portion represents cash on hand.
Last updated: Feb. 1, 2016
$114M
Clinton
$74.9M
Sanders
$4.78M
O'Malley
$54.0M
Carson
$47.0M
Cruz
$32.7M
Rubio
$31.9M
Bush
$19.4M
Trump
$11.5M
Paul
$11.3M
Fiorina
$7.56M
Kasich
$7.16M
Christie
$3.95M
Huckabee
$1.24M
Santorum
$214k
Gilmore
Note: A previous version of this graphic displayed net rather than total contributions.
Source: Federal Election Commission
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