The Democrats’ playing field got a little bit smaller this week. Bill de Blasio has stepped out of the race, according to The New York Times. 

“It’s clearly not my time,” said de Blasio in an interview with MSNBC. 

The same interview indicated that while he has decided to drop out of the presidential race, de Blasio said he wants to put his focus back on his role as mayor of New York City and continue to speak out for working people. 

Though the weekend may have been sad for de Blasio fans, Elizabeth Warren had a much more exciting weekend as she got an endorsement from the Working Families Party, according to The New York Times. This progressive group endorsed Bernie Sanders during the 2016 elections, and their choice to support Warren this year shows how promising her candidacy is. 

Warren also released an anti-corruption plan which would “make the release of tax returns automatic for candidates for federal office, make it illegal for elected officials to become lobbyists and strengthen ethics requirements for federal judges,” according to the New York Times. 

This plan to attack corruption comes at a time when many candidates — including Warren, Sanders and Kamala Harris — are calling for Brett Kavanaugh’s impeachment. 

More candidates announced policy plans — including Cory Booker’s plan to strengthen workers’ rights, Pete Buttigieg’s disaster preparedness plan and his “Medicare for All Who Want It” plan, Sander’s idea for a $2.5 trillion housing proposal and Tom Steyer discussion of a “justice-centered climate plan” to create 46 million jobs over the course of 10 years — according to The New York Times. 

While many candidates, 19 to be exact, are still holding tight to their goal of reaching the presidency, there are three sitting far ahead of the others. Joseph Biden, Warren and Sanders are leading the race by an impressive amount, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, Democratic voters were asked who they preferred to be their nominee. With this question, Biden was in the lead with 31 percent, Warren followed with 25 percent and Sanders came third with 14 percent. 

However, the next question flipped the scale and asked voters which candidate they’re most enthused about. Based on that question, Warren came out on top with 35 percent, followed by Sanders with 25 percent and Biden with 23 percent. 

It’s not difficult to see Warren gets people excited. She has a plan and a way of speaking to the public that people are eager and motivated by. 

However, it’s not clear if America is ready for a female president. This disparity is shown when democratic voters are asked which candidate they are most comfortable with. On that scale, Biden once again comes out on top with 41 percent, followed by Sanders with 37 percent and Warren with 35 percent.

This report of comfort level being the highest with Biden surprised me, especially considering the backlash he received earlier this year for being “handsy” with women along the campaign trail. Maybe those behaviors have stopped, or maybe people are basing their comfort level on the fact he has experience in the White House. 

Regardless, it seems there are a number of factors going into who voters are going to support most when the primaries arrive, but for right now it seems to be a fight focused between Biden, Warren and Sanders. 

Kuchta can be reached at [email protected]