Another candidate has dropped out of the presidential race. Beto O’Rourke has stepped down on Friday, leaving many of his supporters at a loss. 

“My service to the country will not be as a candidate or as the nominee,” he said in a message on Medium.com. “Acknowledging this now is in the best interests of those in the campaign; it is in the best interests of this party as we seek to unify around a nominee; and it is in the best interests of the country.”

O’Rourke sweetly took the time to comfort his supporters at a fundraising dinner in De Moines this past weekend, and while many supporters seemed very upset by this news, it seems to me that O’Rourke weighed the options and made the best call for his campaign. 

“‘This is going to be good. I promise,’ he said to one supporter,” according to The Washington Post. “And to several others: ‘Keep the faith.’ Several people told O’Rourke they were unsure whether they would find another candidate, and he assured them that they would.”

As the race gets tighter, many candidates are feeling the pressure. Kamala Harris has cut some of her staff as a way to free up money for advertising, according to The New York Times. If O’Rourke hadn’t dropped out, this probably would have been his next move, so it will be interesting to see how this choice plays out for Harris. 

Last week I mentioned that Julián Castro would end his campaign if he didn’t raise $800,000 by Oct. 31, but on Friday his campaign announced via Twitter that they are still in it and that they surpassed their goal and raised over $1 million. 

Elizabeth Warren made a big announcement this week, releasing how she will pay for her “Medicare For All” plan. 

Warren proposed “$20.5 trillion in new spending through significant tax increases on businesses and wealthy Americans, but not, she said, on the middle class,” according to The New York Times. 

Warren’s plan is to eliminate employer-sponsored health insurance and instead create government coverage for Americans. 

“She would essentially eliminate medical costs for individuals, including premiums, deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses,” according to The New York Times. 

While this plan sounds enticing to someone like me, in the middle class and concerned about health care, I could see this plan upsetting most members of the upper-class. 

Her desire to add a tax to stock trades, change the way the top one percent are taxed and cut $800 billion in military spending might be too much drastic change for some of her upper-class supporters. 

In other policy news, Steve Bullock released a plan for women’s equality. Some key points in this plan include: equal pay — especially acknowledging the pay gap for women of color — ensuring women don’t have to pay more for health care, creating support for every family, reproductive freedom and confront domestic abuse and create support for survivors.

A plan like this comes at a great time as abortion laws and women’s rights are changing and being challenged across the country. 

Kuchta can be reached at [email protected]