Finance reformer Lawrence Lessig drops bid for Democratic presidential nod

Harvard law professor Larry Lessig is ending his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

He blames the demise of his nearly three-month campaign on the Democratic Party, which he says leaves him "just shut out" of the primary debates. Lessig struggled to hit 1 percent in national polls, the necessary marker to qualify for the primary match-ups.

A better candidate "could have gone further," Lessig says in an online video released Monday. He says he doubts "anyone could have worked harder."

Lessig focused his campaign exclusively on a single issue: Curbing the influence of big money in politics. He says Congress has become "crippled and corrupted."

The Associated Press