August 28, 2019

Kirsten Gillibrand Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Primary

The senator from New York did not qualify for the September debates.

Michael A. McCoy/ZUMA

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On Wednesday, Kirsten Gillibrand dropped out of the 2020 Democratic Primary, just a few days after the senator from New York failed to qualify for the September debates due to low polling and a small donor base.

“Today, I am ending my campaign for president,” she said in a tweet. “Now, let’s go beat Donald Trump and win back the Senate.”

 

Gillibrand’s campaign hinged on her identity as a strong proponent of women’s rights, particularly in the #MeToo era. Still, she averaged less than 1 percent in the latest poll and struggled to be not seen as “boring.” Her policy plans took on issues from Citizens United to payday lenders, but her progressive policies, and viral moments, never caught fire as they have for Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizbeth Warren.

She told the New York Times she had not picked another candidate to endorse. “I think a woman nominee would be inspiring and exciting,” she noted.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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