David Bertschi has ended his campaign for the federal Liberal leadership.
The departure of the Ottawa lawyer leaves six candidates in the running for the top Grit job. Marc Garneau also ended his leadership campaign last week.
Bertschi had vowed to stay in the race until the last vote was counted, even after losing campaign manager, Kevin Chalmers, to Joyce Murray's campaign earlier this month.
More from The Canadian Press..
OTTAWA — And then there were six.
Ottawa lawyer David Bertschi has dropped out of the Liberal leadership race.
Bertschi says his campaign has not reached the "critical mass" needed ahead of this weekend's debate in Montreal, the final one before Liberals choose their next leader.
His departure follow's last week's exit by Montreal MP Marc Garneau, who threw his support to front-runner Justin Trudeau.
Garneau declared the outcome "a fait accompli," saying polling done by his campaign showed Trudeau had the backing of most Liberal members and supporters.
Bertschi's departure leaves six candidates in the running: Trudeau, Joyce Murray, Martha Hall Findlay, Martin Cauchon, Deborah Coyne and Karen McCrimmon.
Also on HuffPost