BERLIN, N.H. – Less than 24 hours after he gave an emotional appeal to New Hampshire primary voters Sunday, claiming his presidential run to reform campaign finance laws was urgently important, Lawrence Lessig left the building, left the country and left the Democratic presidential race.
“All Americans share the ideal that we as citizens want to have equal power in our democracy, and all Americans recognize that we don’t have that right now,” Lessig said in a speech to about 80 Coos County Democrats.
The Harvard professor offered no hint of bowing out during his Sunday stump speech, a 20-minute address that turned out to be his last as a candidate.
Monday morning, Lessig released a YouTube video dropping out. By then, he was long gone to unknown foreign lands, local Democratic leaders said.
At the Sunday night event, buttons, signs and literature produced by Team Lessig were displayed on a table near a fireplace at the event. He ate spaghetti and meatballs with voters before his remarks, and slipped out immediately after his speech with an adviser.
Corry Hughes, treasurer of the Coos County Democrats, organized Lessig’s appearance, and said he gave no indication to local party officials that he was dropping out.
“He was the only candidate who actually came, the rest had surrogates,” Hughes said. “He was really happy we invited him.”
She said Lessig covered his travel expenses to the event, located at a cozy chalet less than 20 miles from the Maine border. Lessig also paid $40 to the Coos County Democrats to cover dinner for him and his adviser.
“He paid for dinner like everybody else,” Hughes said. “It’s our only fundraiser for the year, so we try to get money out of candidates if we can.”
Out of the 15 speakers at the annual dinner, Lessig spoke early because he was heading out of the country early Monday.
Lessig spoke emotionally in his remarks about his relationship with Internet activist and Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz, who committed suicide following a federal indictment that alleged he stole academic journals through the MIT computer network.
Lessig said Swartz had urged him to take up the mantle of campaign finance reform before he died.
“The greatest tragedy for those who survive is the constant recognition that there was more you could have done to save that person who left,” Lessig said about Swartz’s death.
“When Aaron died — the boy who started me on this path — what I committed to do was to make sure there would never be a time in my life when I would look back to this country I love and feel as I do about that boy I loved,” Lessig said.
The YouTube video announcing his decision Monday was pre-taped, a sign he most likely had made his decision when he gave his remarks Sunday.
In the video, Lessig said that while he thought he had racked up the required 1 percent recognition in recent polls, the Democratic debate rules had been changed and he wouldn’t qualify for a spot in the next debate, scheduled to take place Nov. 14 in Iowa.
“It is now clear that the party won’t let me be a candidate and I can’t ask people to support a campaign that I know can’t even get before the members of the Democratic party,” Lessig said in the video.
Lessig’s campaign did not return emails seeking comment Monday, but members of the super PAC Lessig founded, MayDay.US, said they were shocked by the decision.
Cyrus Patten, who ran Campaign for Vermont before becoming executive director of MayDay last month, said a colleague noticed that a scheduled campaign call with volunteers for Monday was canceled, a sign of trouble.
Patten said that while the campaign was short-lived, it was effective.
“He jumped in, he said money in politics is a big deal, and then suddenly we saw three presidential candidates establish or strengthen their positions on public financing,” Patten said.
The MayDay PAC’s mission supports dozens of candidates who have made campaign finance reform a priority. While Lessig’s campaign is no more, MayDay will continue to operate. A midyear report with the Federal Election Commission revealed May Day has $371,326 on hand.
PAC officials are prohibited from coordinating with candidates, and Patten said he has never met or spoken to Lessig. He said he now hopes to reach out to Lessig and figure out the next steps for fighting against political corruption.
“Now that he is not a candidate, I have the opportunity to call him up and talk about it,” Patten said. “I hope to have a conversation with him about the future will look like. It sounds like he remains committed to the issue.”
Zephyr Teachout, a Vermont native who is the CEO of MayDay, said she had also not spoken to Lessig since she took over May Day when Lessig announced his run. But she said she was shocked Lessig bowed out this early.
“I was actually really surprised,” Teachout said. “I thought he was going to go further.”
She said she was hopeful Lessig would continue to push for reforms, but wasn’t sure what his next steps would be.
“We’d absolutely love him to come back to MayDay, but he just came off a presidential campaign less than two hours ago,” Teachout said.
Teachout said she wasn’t sure if Lessig would now endorse a more mainstream Democratic candidate, but said that both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have adopted some of Lessig’s view on campaign finance reform.
Hughes said she thought that Lessig’s few supporters would likely gravitate toward Sanders, even if Lessig held off an endorsement.
“I think Sanders and Lessig are very much on the same wavelengths,” Hughes said. “My feeling is the Lessig people will drift toward Bernie.”
Lessig’s departure leaves Sanders, Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley competing for the Democratic nomination.
