Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig announced Monday that he was dropping his bid for the Democratic nomination because the party effectively "shut him out."

Lessig's campaign, which launched in early September, primarily focused on campaign finance reform and the failed electoral process.

In a video message posted to his campaign website, Lessig said that he was forced to drop out of the race because new Democratic Party rules excluded him from taking part in the upcoming debate.

"From the start it was clear that getting into the Democratic debates was the essential step to this campaign," he stated. However, under new inclusion rules announced last week "unless we can time travel there is no way I can qualify," Lessig said. "Under the new rule I am just shut out."

"I wanted to run for president as a Democrat because the values that I champion are shared by all Americans but especially Democrats," he said, adding that it is now clear to him "that the party won't let me be a candidate."

Lessig concludes his video message vowing to continue to press for electoral reform. "We can't solve any of the problems this nation must address until we fix the crippled and corrupted institution of Congress first," he added.

Watch the video below: