Gravel and his campaign teens end presidential run

Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel is ending his quixotic bid for president, which was run by a pair of social media-savvy teenagers.

Gravel’s official Twitter account broke the news Wednesday, saying “the #Gravelanche is not over. We're gonna keep going.”

The campaign said it will donate its funds to charity and

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“ending the American empire,” “reforming our Democracy,” and “direct action by elected officials to end injustice and suffering.”

“As the campaign ends, we're going to help build institutions on the left which can grow power, shape policy, and create strong activists for the long haul,” Gravel’s campaign

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.

Campaign manager David Oks and chief strategist Henry Williams, whose snarky tweets targeted more moderate 2020 candidates, will

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The two teenagers first recruited the 89-year-old Gravel to run for president earlier this year, forming an exploratory committee in March and launching an official campaign in April aimed at shifting the primary field further left during the party’s televised debates.

Gravel, who exited elected office in 1981 and mounted a failed White House bid in 2008, did not make the stage for either the June forum in Miami or the July event in Detroit.

Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine