Washington(CNN) Author Marianne Williamson ended her 2020 Democratic presidential campaign on Friday after failing to gain traction in a crowded Democratic field.
"I stayed in the race to take advantage of every possible opportunity to share our message. With caucuses and primaries now about to begin, however, we will not be able to garner enough votes in the election to elevate our conversation any more than it is now," Williamson wrote in a message to supporters.
"The primaries might be tightly contested among the top contenders, and I don't want to get in the way of a progressive candidate winning any of them," Williamson continued.
Williamson pledged to fully support the Democratic nominee.
Williamson had not qualified for the Democratic debate next week. The spiritual author had laid off her campaign staff nationally, a former staffer confirmed to CNN last week.
After launching her campaign in January 2019, Williamson told CNN she was running to bring a "moral and spiritual awakening" for America.
"Nothing short of that is adequate to fundamentally change the patterns of our political dysfunction," Williamson told CNN's John Berman at the time.
Williamson's campaign has been little-noticed in recent months, as focus shifted to the Democratic contenders who were meeting the party's fundraising and polling thresholds to qualify for debates and Williamson repeatedly missed the cut.
Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson
Marianne Williamson poses for a portrait in Los Angeles in January 2019.
Williamson, a native of Houston, attended Pomona College in California after graduating from high school. "In my mid-20s I began reading a set of books called 'A Course in Miracles,' " she says on her campaign website. "The 'Course' is not a religion, but rather a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy based on universal spiritual themes. There is no dogma or doctrine; it is simply a book on how to forgive. I had no idea at the time that my study of the 'Course,' plus writing and speaking about it, would turn into a 35-year career."
Williamson and actress Judith Light attend an AIDS charity party in Los Angeles in 1991.
Williamson appears with talk-show host Sally Jessy Raphael at a taping in 1993. Williamson's first book, "A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles," became a New York Times best-seller in 1992.
Williamson shakes hands at a book signing in 2002. She has written several best-selling books in her career.
Williamson, third from right, joins media mogul Oprah Winfrey and other Winfrey friends for the launch of Winfrey's XM Radio station in 2006.
In 2007, Williamson speaks at a news conference in Washington to reintroduce a bill called the Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act.
Williamson speaks to supporters in 2013 as she ran for a congressional seat in California. She finished fourth in the Democratic primary.
Williamson and her daughter, India, in 2014.
Williamson is joined by, from left, Katy Perry, Hayden Slater, Nicole Richie and Rivka Sophia Rossi during a campaign event in April 2014.
Williamson leads a "love mob" campaign rally in May 2014.
Williamson speaks at her election-day rally in Santa Monica, California, in June 2014.
Williamson attends an awards show in 2015 for Project Angel Food, a nonprofit she founded that serves home-bound people with AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses.
Williamson cuts a cake to commemorate Project Angel Food's 10-millionth meal in 2016.
Williamson announces her presidential campaign in January 2019.
Williamson greets supporters after announcing her presidential bid.
Williamson speaks at a campaign stop in Keene, New Hampshire, in March 2019.
Williamson takes questions from potential voters during a CNN town hall in April 2019.
Williamson makes a point during the first Democratic debates in June 2019.
Williamson addresses people at the Iowa State Fair in August 2019.
Williamson, left, holds hands with supporters in a moment of meditation in Iowa City in January 2020. She dropped out of the presidential race later that month.
Williamson leaves the stage after endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders during a campaign rally in Austin, Texas, in February 2020.
Williamson announces another presidential bid in March 2023.
But her campaign had attracted attention -- and admirers -- at times.
Williamson's most notable policy proposal was likely her call for at least $100 billion -- but potentially as much as $500 billion -- in reparations for the descendants of slaves. She said the money would be divvied up by a council of black leaders.
"America will not have the future we want if we're not willing to clean up the past," she said in a TV ad in South Carolina focused on the issue.
In summer 2019, she announced she was moving to Des Moines, Iowa. That meant she'd be on the ground full-time in the first state to cast votes in the nominating process.
In a debate in June, she said her first act as president would be to call New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and say, "Girlfriend, you are so on." Williamson's proclamation came as a response to an op-ed Ardern wrote last year, in which she said she wanted to make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child.
She got attention in the following month's debate, too, when she said President Donald Trump had harnessed a "dark psychic force of collectivized hatred."
She chided her Democratic foes for rolling out policy proposal after policy proposal, saying she instead preferred to focus on ideas.
July was the last debate Williamson qualified for, though, and since that point, her campaign languished with little attention. Earlier this month, she announced she'd laid off her campaign staff but would continue on without it.