Kirsten Gillibrand drops out of US presidential race

US Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand announced that she is dropping out of the race after failing to qualify for the September debate.

"Today, I am ending my campaign for president," the New York senator said in a video posted on her Twitter account on Wednesday. "It's important to know when it's not your time."

Gillibrand's decision came as she was unable to meet the donor and polling requirements set by the Democratic National Committee, thus failing to qualify for the third Democratic primary debate slated for Sept 12 in Houston, Texas, Xinhua news agency reported.

Candidates must get at least 2 percent in four qualifying polls in addition to getting 130,000 donors to qualify. The qualification deadline for the Houston debate is set for Wednesday.

Despite the 10 million dollars left in her 2018 Senate run account and an early outreach to big donors, the 52-year-old struggled to raise funds for her presidential bid. She posted 3 million dollars in the first quarter and raised 2.3 million dollars in the following quarter.

The senator's support averaged below 2 percent throughout 2019, according to RealClearPolitics rolling average.

Gillibrand, the first senator among the Democratic candidates to quit the race, has made women's equality central to her campaign, while advocating vehemently for abortion rights.

The New York Times reported that Gillibrand said she would endorse another candidate in the primary but stopped short of specifying who that person would be.