Three candidates for the Democratic nomination for the D.C. Council Ward 3 seat have dropped out of the race, consolidating their support behind one of their opponents, Matthew Frumin.

       Tricia Duncan, whom outgoing Ward 3 council member Mary M. Cheh had supported to succeed her, was the first to announce Monday night that she is dropping out of the race. On Tuesday, candidate Ben Bergmann, who won the admiration of pro-density advocates but struggled to gain traction in a crowded field, dropped out as well. His exit was followed shortly afterward by high-schooler Henry Cohen — who had highlighted failures in the city’s schools during his campaign — narrowing the field to six contenders.

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       All three endorsed Frumin, while Duncan and Bergmann also spoke sharply against one of the other leading candidates, former council staffer Eric Goulet.

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       “I think two people have a real shot to win,” Duncan wrote in her letter announcing the end of her campaign. “The candidate backed by a million dollars of outside, special interest money and Matt. That’s a clear decision for me: I want Matt to win.” She alluded to spending by the pro-charter school advocacy group Democrats for Education Reform D.C. (DFER) and another pro-charter group, DC Charter School Action. No other organization has spent nearly as much in this election cycle, and both support Goulet as well as Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D).

       Bergmann, who ran on a promise of public preschool starting in infancy and a host of detailed position papers on issues such as transit and housing, called Goulet “a conservative yes-man for the business community” in his three-page letter announcing the end of his campaign. He focused on Goulet’s positions on police overhaul and said he worried Goulet would “dismantle, curtail, or hobble” the city’s paid-parental-leave benefit, which is funded through a tax on employers.

       Goulet did not respond to phone calls requesting comment but tweeted congratulatory notes and words of praise on their campaigns to the three former candidates after their announcements. His chief campaign issue has been a pledge to greatly increase the size of the city’s police force, but he also has been backed by education organizations who share his support for charter schools and strong mayoral control of the public school system.

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       Within hours of Duncan’s withdrawal, Cheh said she would now vote for Frumin “and encourage all who haven’t voted yet to do so.”

       In a statement, Cheh said Frumin “is deeply rooted in the community and has worked, often quietly and without fanfare, on many [Ward 3] issues such as affordable housing and school reform. He will reflect Ward 3 values and serve honorably on the Council.” Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) also endorsed Frumin earlier Monday, and on Tuesday, D.C. Council members Elissa Silverman (I-At Large) and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who are each seeking another term this year, threw their support behind Frumin as well.

       On Twitter, Frumin thanked the three candidates who dropped out for their support.

       Duncan had urged other candidates in what was originally a nine-person Democratic primary to consider dropping out as well. She said she came to the conclusion that she couldn’t win after Friday’s campaign finance reports showed the extent of outside groups’ spending to support Goulet. “I don’t want to see a Ward 3 council seat bought. If there are other candidates out there who share those same values, it’s time to face reality,” she said in an interview.

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       Like Duncan and Bergmann, Silverman pointed to DFER’s spending in the election as one of the reasons to coalesce behind Frumin: “The obscene amount dwarfs any candidate’s ability to match that spending even with the District’s generous financing program,” she wrote in a letter to her constituents.

       The state director for DFER D.C., Jessica Giles, declined to comment on her organization’s spending in the Ward 3 race. However, she previously has said that the group’s spending reflects the wishes of many parents in the District.

       Ballots were mailed to every D.C. voter in May, and in-person early voting opened Friday. As of Monday, at least 2,458 people had already voted at drop boxes and polling places in the ward, as well as an untold number of the nearly 17,000 D.C. residents who have sent their ballots back by mail.

       Any votes already cast for Duncan, Bergmann and Cohen still will be tallied, and because their names will remain on the ballot, they could get more votes even after suspending their campaigns. (The D.C. Board of Elections will put up signs to notify voters of candidates who’ve dropped out the race, but the candidates must formally notify the board.)