John Delaney Would Like You to Know He’s Still Running for President

The multimillionaire former congressman from Maryland still hasn’t broken 1% in national polls or been on the debate stage. He told us why he’s still gunning for a win.

Andrea González-Ramírez
GEN

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Photo Illustration; Source Image: David Becker/Getty Images

JJohn Delaney wants to kindly remind you he is still one of the gazillion Democrats running for president. Yes, the field has been aggressively shrinking as lower-profile candidates have ended their ill-fated campaigns, but the multimillionaire former congressman has persisted, despite having no clear path to the nomination.

Delaney, who served in office representing Maryland’s 6th Congressional District from 2013 to 2019, first announced he was running for president in the summer of 2017, or about 18 months before most candidates began entering the race. If you don’t remember him, that’s okay: He has not been on the debate stage since July and has not broken more than 1% in national polls (on the good months). In fact, an Economist/YouGov poll from late November found that 59% of those surveyed did not know who he was. Policy-wise, he has claimed the moderate lane, but that one is pretty much owned by two of the five or so front-runners, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg. Still, Delaney has outlasted many other candidates in the…

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Andrea González-Ramírez
GEN
Writer for

Award-winning Puerto Rican journalist. Senior Writer at New York Magazine’s The Cut. Formerly GEN, Refinery29, and more. Read my work: https://www.thecut.com/