Political leaders respond to Klobuchar suspending her presidential campaign

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In this Oct. 17, 2019, photo, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., smiles during a campaign stop at a coffee shop in Concord, N.H.[AP/ Charles Krupa]

On Monday, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s campaign said they are ending their Democratic presidential campaign and will endorse fellow candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.

The Minnesota senator announced the decision Monday, calling it quits after a bid that broke briefly into the top tier with a third-place finish in New Hampshire.

Klobuchar was the third presidential candidate to drop out of the race in less than 49 hours, following Pete Buttigieg’s departure late Sunday and Tom Steyer’s exit late Saturday. Their decisions reflect an urgent push among moderates to consolidate behind Biden as a counter to progressive rival Bernie Sanders.

Klobuchar outlasted several better-known and better-funded Democrats, thanks to a better-than-expected third-place finish in New Hampshire. But she couldn’t turn that into success elsewhere, as she struggled to build out a campaign that could compete across the country and had poor showings in the next contests.

The three-term senator had one of this cycle’s more memorable campaign launches, standing outside in a Minnesota snowstorm last February to tout her "grit" and Midwestern sensibilities. Klobuchar argued that her record of getting things done in Washington and winning even in Republican parts of her state would help her win traditionally Democratic heartland states like Wisconsin and Michigan that flipped in 2016 to give Donald Trump the presidency.

Many political leaders and fellow candidates shared their support of Klobuchar on Twitter.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.