Historian Darcy Richardson of Florida tells Wikinews  that he has suspended his campaign for the United States Democratic Party's 2012 presidential nomination and has shut down his campaign website. However, he affirms that he will remain on the ballot for the Texas Democratic presidential primary on May 29, and is still eligible as a write-in candidate for the June 5 California primary.
Richardson, 55, decided last October to mount a primary challenge to U.S. President Barack Obama as a progressive, arguing that Obama's reelection would amount to a "fourth term for [former President] George W. Bush." He spoke with Wikinews shortly after his announcement, and detailed his association with the late Senator Eugene McCarthy, whose 1988 presidential campaign he had managed.
After winning only 264 votes (0.44 percent) in the New Hampshire primary in January, Richardson compared his performance to that of McCarthy, who won only 211 votes in the state in 1992. He told Wikinews that he would do "much better in future primaries."  
Indeed, his numbers improved: he won 1.22 percent in Missouri in February, 5.15 percent in Louisiana in March, and had his strongest showing last month in Oklahoma, receiving 6.36 percent of the vote. 
Next month, he will appear on the Texas ballot with Obama, attorney John Wolfe, Jr., and Bob Ely. 
Richardson's former campaign website (www.darcy2012.com) now redirects to Uncovered Politics, a political website that he co-founded in 2010. Since suspending his campaign, he has increased his activity on the site and has recently published an interview with the new Constitution Party presidential nominee Virgil Goode.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!
Share this: 






This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Darcy Richardson suspends Democratic Party presidential campaign