Marianne Williamson withdraws from Democratic presidential contest

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Marianne Williamson unveils proposal to create a Department of Peace

Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson says, if elected, she will work with Congress to create a Cabinet-level department dedicated to making the world a safer place.

Spiritual author Marianne Williamson announced Friday she is ending her Democratic bid for president, acknowledging she hasn’t been able to attract adequate support to stay in the race.

The unconventional candidate said in a message to supporters that, “I stayed in the race to take advantage of every possible effort 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. “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.”

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“As of today, therefore, I’m suspending my campaign,” she said.

The news doesn’t come as a surprise: Williamson laid off her entire campaign staff, both at her national headquarters and in the early voting states, earlier this month. It comes just weeks before the Iowa caucuses kick off the nominating caucus and primary season.

At the height of her campaign, Williamson had about 45 staffers nationwide. But the long-shot contender had struggled with fundraising and failed to qualify for the most recent Democratic presidential debates.

Williamson has been an untraditional candidate who preaches the politics of love. She has emphasized “six pillars for a season of moral repair,” including economic justice. She proposed creating a Department of Children and Youths and Department of Peace, and has pushed for reparations for the descendants of African-American slaves.

Williamson also led a meditation session on the campaign trail a couple of months ago. Williamson told Fox News in September that “politics should be where we express our collective wisdom and that is all that finding your heart is about."

"Politics has become too separate from too much of normal life and this is just normal life today,” she said.

Fox News’ Patrick Ward contributed to this report.