Democratic presidential candidate and mayor of South Bend, Indiana Pete Buttigieg responds to a question during a forum held by gun safety organizations the Giffords group and March For Our Lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 2, 2019.

For all of Sen. Kamala Harris's challenges gaining traction in the 2020 presidential campaign, she had remained the clear favorite in Hollywood. Now that the California Democrat is out of the race, the movie industry may be poised to coalesce around Mayor Pete.

In recent months, actresses Sharon Stone and Alyssa Milano have contributed to Pete Buttigieg's effort to become the Democratic nominee, joining other celebrities like Michael J. Fox and Frances McDormand, who previously maxed out their donations to the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

No candidate has raised more money from employees of Comcast, parent of film studios Universal Pictures and DreamWorks (as well as CNBC), and only Harris has brought in more money than Buttigieg from staffers at Disney. In total, Buttigieg has reeled in $971,009 from employees in the television, movie and music industry, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That's behind Harris, who raised $1.18 million, but way ahead of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who's third at $612,679.

Harris said on Tuesday that her "campaign for president simply doesn't have the financial resources we need to continue." She had previously canceled a fundraising event in New York, following negative media reports about her struggling organization and the loss last week of a top staffer to Michael Bloomberg's campaign.

While Harris was stuck in the low single digits in most recent polls, Buttigieg has been gaining momentum, particularly in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire, where he's now leading. Buttigieg, who's bidding to become the first openly gay president, has carved out a position as a moderate who can appeal to progressives, in a race where Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have promised dramatic changes to the financial and health-care systems.