The 2008 presidential campaign of Bill Richardson, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson announced his candidacy on January 21, 2007, for President of the United States on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, by virtue of forming a presidential exploratory committee.Richardson, who is of Hispanic descent, joined a diverse field for the Democratic nomination, which already included an African American in Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and a female in Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and became the first individual of Hispanic descent to mount a nationwide campaign for president. He withdrew from the race on January 10, 2008 after only placing fourth in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries, the first two of the season.