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Larry Lessig Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Race

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Democratic presidential candidate Larry Lessig has announced his withdrawal from the 2016 presidential election, citing the Democratic party's revised debate inclusion rules as the reason for his departure. Lessig, a law professor at Harvard University, had centered his campaign on comprehensive campaign finance reform and had been a vocal advocate for transparency and accountability in politics. In a web video announcing his withdrawal, Lessig paid tribute to his friend Aaron Swartz, who passed away in 2013 after being charged with 13 felonies for hacking into a Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer network.

Key Takeaways:

  • Larry Lessig, a Democratic presidential candidate, has dropped out of the 2016 presidential election due to the Democratic party's revised debate inclusion rules.
  • The revised rules require candidates to have three polls at 1% in the six weeks prior to the debate, a standard that Lessig says he could not meet.
  • Lessig's campaign focused on comprehensive campaign finance reform, which he argued was essential for solving the nation's problems.
  • Lessig paid tribute to his friend Aaron Swartz, who was a vocal advocate for transparency and accountability in politics and passed away in 2013.
  • The Democratic National Committee (DNC) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the revised debate inclusion rules.
  • A DNC official told The Guardian that the decision of what candidates to include in the next Democratic presidential debate would be made by CBS News.

Statistics:

  • 1%: The percentage of support in polls required for candidates to be included in the Democratic debates under the new rules.
  • 3: The number of polls required to meet the new standard.
  • 6 weeks: The timeframe prior to the debate when polls must be taken to meet the new standard.
  • 13: The number of felonies charged against Aaron Swartz after he was arrested for hacking into a MIT computer network.
  • 4 million: The number of academic articles that Swartz downloaded from the JStor database.
  • 2013: The year in which Aaron Swartz passed away.

Sources:

  • Tom McCarthy in New York, for The Guardian, quoting Larry Lessig
  • The Guardian, stating that a DNC official told them that CBS News would decide who to include in the next debate.

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