The departure of Pete Buttigieg from the presidential race indicates that Democrats are serious about stopping Sen. Bernie Sanders from seizing the party’s nomination.

With Buttigieg not clogging the moderate lane, Democrats could have a shot at stopping Sanders from building an insurmountable delegate lead, and perhaps wrapping up the nomination before the Democratic National Convention this summer in Milwaukee.

Buttigieg’s Dallas supporters told me Sunday that the rising star didn’t want to be the reason that another moderate candidate couldn’t close the gap with Sanders.

“Our goal has always been to help unify Americans to defeat Donald Trump and to win the era for our values,” Buttigieg said Sunday in South Bend.

Ideally, the anti-Sanders forces would like the race to come down to one strong moderate against the self-described Democratic socialist.

With his blowout win in South Carolina, former Vice President Joe Biden has laid claim to being the choice of the establishment.

But Biden still has one major obstacle before a one-one-one battle with Sanders. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent over $400 million in Super Tuesday states, including Texas. If he has a strong showing Tuesday, it will certainly cut into Biden’s delegate total. That would help Sanders pad his lead, particularly if he does well in delegate-rich California.

Buttigieg’s departure comes after millions of people in Super Tuesday contests have voted early, so his decision won’t have a decisive impact on those contests.

Elijah Goodfriend-Papa and Suzanne Goodfriend, of Whitewright, Texas, become emotional after learning democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is ending his campaigned less than an hour before a rally on Sunday, March 1, 2020 at Main Street Garden Park in downtown Dallas. (Ryan Michalesko/The Dallas Morning News) (Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)

Before the presidential election few folks had heard of Buttigieg, and his early success helped shape the race and the issues surrounding it.

The former South Bend mayor scored an impressive win in Iowa and was a close second to Sanders, the Vermont Independent, in the New Hampshire primary.

But Buttigieg failed the contest in Nevada and South Carolina to appeal to African American and Hispanic voters. Had he not dropped from the race, he was facing a dismal showing in Tuesday’s Super Tuesday states, including Texas.

The Dallas Morning News-UT-Tyler poll released Sunday found that of those who favored Buttigieg but had not voted early, Bloomberg was the choice of 25.3%, followed by Biden at 21.4%, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar 20.8%, Sanders 17% and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren 15.4%.

It’s unusual for the winner of Iowa and the second place finisher in New Hampshire to be out of a presidential race in early March. In bowing out, Buttigieg is showing that he’s not only a strong campaigner, but a pragmatic politician who can see the big picture.

Buttigieg and Democrats are trying to stop Sanders, but they could be too late.