Presidential contender and former U.S. Representative from Maryland John Delaney announced he would withdraw from the Democratic-nomination race just days before the Iowa caucuses.

He began his campaign in 2017 and heavily focused on Iowa, making stops in all 99 counties before any other candidate.

The campaign cited minimal support in Iowa as the reason for his departure, which the campaign said at the same time would detract from other moderate Democrats.

“This decision is informed by internal analyses indicating John’s support is not sufficient to meet the 15 percent viability threshold, especially in rural areas where John has campaigned harder than anyone,” the campaign wrote in a statement Friday morning. “He strongly believes the Democratic Party should advance candidates with progressive values on the big issues of our time, but who also are committed to governing with pragmatic, fact-based, bipartisan solutions.”