Deval Patrick, a civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman, is the latest politician to announce they are dropping out of the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. The former Massachusetts governor announced on Wednesday, February 12 that he would be suspending his campaign.
Patrick was the final African American candidate in the Democratic primary.
His decision to end the campaign comes following the New Hampshire primary. Patrick was one of three candidates to drop out in the past 24 hours joining businessman Andrew Yang and Congressman Michael Bennet.
“The vote in New Hampshire last night was not enough for us to create the practical wind at the campaign’s back to go on to the next round of voting. So I have decided to suspend the campaign, effective immediately,” he said in a statement.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a late entry to the presidential race, is ending his campaign https://t.co/DaWaBfcx7e pic.twitter.com/3zfrVhgueM
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) February 12, 2020
Everything you need to know about the former Democratic presidential candidate can be seen below.
Deval Patrick Ethnicity & Heritage
Deval Patrick was born in the South Side of Chicago, Illinois to Emily Mae and Pat Patrick, who was a jazz musician in Sun Ra’s band. His mother traced her roots back to American slaves in Kentucky. Patrick’s father abandoned him and his family in order to pursue his music career in New York City. Patrick and his father eventually reconciled their relationship.
Deval Patrick Bio
Born: July 31, 1956 (age 63)
Patrick was a gifted student and was referred to the non-profit organization A Better Chance by a middle school teacher. He would go on to attend Milton Academy in Massachusetts before becoming the first member of his family to attend college. He received his bachelor’s degree and graduated from Harvard College cum laude. He would later enroll at Harvard Law School where he was elected president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.
After getting his law career started, Patrick was nominated as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division by President Bill Clinton, who he had sued in a voting case while working for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the early 1980s.
Patrick would go on to a business career where he received a job as General Counsel of Texaco before leaving the company to become the Executive Vice-President, General Counsel and Secretary at The Coca-Cola Company.
Eventually, he turned his attention to politics where he was elected governor of Massachusetts with 55 percent of the general election vote in 2006. He was the first Democratic governor of the state since Michael Dukakis in 1991 and was the state’s first African-American governor.