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SAN FRANCISCO — The Democratic presidential field is shrinking but not quickly enough to ward off the prospect of a long, bruising fight for the nomination.

Three candidates dropped out of the race over the last two weeks, and several others could soon follow. What remains will be a historically large, double-digit roster that includes an unusually high number of strong campaigns poised to go deep into the primary season plus a gaggle of others doing just enough to survive with less than six months before the Iowa caucuses.

It’s a scenario — on display Friday, as more than a dozen candidates addressed the summer meeting of the Democratic National Committee — that almost certainly will make it harder for Democrats to settle quickly on a nominee to take on President Donald Trump, and the process could create unintended consequences even as top Democrats frame the dynamics as an embarrassment of riches.

“They’re all good, but there’s just so many,” says Julie D. Soo, a San Francisco Democrat who serves on her state party committee. “It’s time for some narrowing.”

Some Democratic players even quietly bring up the possibility of going into the national convention in Milwaukee next July without any candidate having secured a majority of delegates required to win the nomination. “I’m the harbinger of doom and gloom who thinks we could have a brokered convention,” said Leah Daughtry, who chaired the 2016 Democratic convention. “People don’t want to talk about that, and I just think, um-hum, OK then.”

Party Chairman Tom Perez takes the optimist’s view, praising “a bumper crop” that will yield a strong nominee tested by a tough primary. He touts the rules he’s set for the primary process, particularly the debates, as ensuring a “fair shake” for all candidates. The chairman, however, also gives nods toward the possibility of fissures like those that cost Hillary Clinton votes on the left and contributed to her loss to Trump in 2016.

“The most important thing for us to remember,” Perez told the party gathering Friday, is “that every single one of these candidates would make a better president than the current occupant of the White House.”

Still, Perez catches arrows from multiple angles — those who blame him for cutting off access to the national stage afforded by debates and those who worry he hasn’t done enough to streamline an unwieldly field.

“If we wanted to be the party that excluded people, we’d be Republicans,” presidential candidate Michael Bennet said Friday at the DNC, with Perez sitting nearby. The Colorado senator is unlikely to qualify for the September debates.

On his way out of the race this week, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee criticized the party for setting a grassroots fundraising goal that he and aides said forced longshot candidates to spend disproportionately on expensive digital fundraising consultants — taking away their ability to spend on travel and grassroots efforts in early states.

Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton announced at the DNC gathering Friday that he was ending his bid for the presidency. And former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper dropped out of the 2020 race last week.

As of now, 10 candidates have reached the qualifying thresholds on polling (2 percent in at least four recognized polls) and grassroots fundraising (130,000 unique donors) for the September debate. If that holds, the September debate would be the first of the cycle held on a single night.

That would put all leading candidates — former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders — on the same stage for the first time, together with a handful of others vying for top tier status, including Sens. Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

If another candidate qualifies by Aug. 28, the debate will be spread over two nights.

Those candidates have been less likely to criticize the debate rules openly. Their quieter complaints are the long wait for a more quaint debate stage involving the strongest candidates. Perez’s rules could even expand the debate stage in October, since that round will have the same rules as September, giving candidates another month to qualify.

“The bottom line is you just cannot tell someone they can’t run for president,” says Christine Pelosi, a DNC member and daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, defending the party’s handling of the race so far.

The difference between 10 or 12 or 14 candidates debating in the fall likely doesn’t change the 2020 dynamic that is most distinct from recent Democratic primaries: There’s little chance this primary battle becomes a two-person battle before voting begins, like the Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama bout in 2008 and the Sanders vs. Clinton bout in 2016.

Party officials and campaign representatives in San Francisco this week agreed that Biden, Warren, Sanders, Harris and Buttigieg all have the combination of support, organization and money to go deep into the primary.

PORTLAND — Cristian Roldan and Raul Ruidiaz each scored to lift the Seattle Sounders to a 2-1 win over rival the Portland Timbers on Friday night and secure this year’s Cascadia Cup trophy.

Jordan Morris assisted on both goals as the Seattle Sounders (12-8-7) moved into second place in the Western Conference.

The Timbers (11-11-4) have lost their last two games after falling last week 2-0 to reigning MLS Cup champion Atlanta United FC at home. The Timbers sit in seventh place, just above the playoff line.

The game was marked by a fan protest of MLS’s new policy that prohibits political displays at games. The Timbers Army and Emerald City Supporters fan groups remained silent for the first 33 minutes of the game due to a ban on flags showing the anti-fascist Iron Front symbol, which MLS says has become politicized.

When the clock hit 33:01, Timbers fans broke out into a chant based on “Bella Ciao,” an Italian protest song, and some fans for each team defiantly waved flags with the prohibited Iron Front logo.

Ahead of the planned fan protest, the starting players for the Timbers and the Sounders posed together for a pre-game photo with banners that said “anti-racist” and “anti-fascist.”

With the win, the Sounders secured their sixth Cascadia Cup, tying the Vancouver Whitecaps’ all-time record. The Timbers have won it four times.

The Cascadia Cup was created by supporters of the Timbers, Sounders and Whitecaps, and is awarded to the winner of the head-to-head matches between the three teams each season based on points.

In the 22nd minute, Morris crossed a ball into box that bounced off teammate Ruidiaz and into the path of Roldan, who tapped it past Timbers goalkeeper Steve Clark. It was Roldan’s fourth goal this season.

Two minutes into the second half, Morris tallied another assist, crossing the ball to Ruidiaz, who fired a shot from the middle of the penalty box for his 10th goal this year.

Diego Valeri scored for the Timbers in the 54th minute via a free kick that that ricocheted off Ruidiaz and into the goal.

Valeri, who has seven goals this season, is the only active MLS player and the sixth player league history to record 75 goals and 75 assists in league play.

The Timbers nearly equalized in the 58th minute when a Valeri strike and a Cristhian Paredes header forced two quick saves out of Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei.

In the 80th minute, the Timbers thought they equalized on a Brian Fernandez strike, but it was called back after a video review showed he was offside on the play.

The win was the Sounders’ first in five games. They had been winless and had allowed multiple goals in each of their previous four games.

Seattle has a 10-8-6 lead all-time in regular season meetings with Portland since the Timbers joined MLS in 2011.

Spanish midfielder Emanuel Cecchini made his debut for the Sounders in the second half. He was signed on Aug. 8 via a loan from Spanish second-division side Malaga.

The Timbers were without usual starting defender Larrys Mabiala, who injured his hamstring on Aug. 14 in a win over the Chicago Fire. The Timbers have not said when he is expected to return.

The Sounders were still without Victor Rodriguez, who has been out since July 6 with a hamstring injury.

Up next, the Timbers host Real Salt Lake on Aug. 31. Portland will play seven of their last eight matches of the season at home. The Timbers played their first 12 games of this season on the road due to an expansion of Providence Park, which added around 4,000 new seats.

The Sounders host the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sept. 1.

SOUNDERS 2, TIMBERS 1

Seattle 1 1—2

Portland 0 1—1

First half—1, Seattle, Roldan, 4 (Ruidiaz), 22nd minute.

Second half—2, Seattle, Ruidiaz, 10 (Morris), 47th; 3, Portland, Valeri, 7, 54th.

Goalies—Seattle, Stefan Frei, Bryan Meredith; Portland, Steve Clark, Kendall Mcintosh.

Yellow Cards—Leerdam, Seattle, 53rd; Jones, Seattle, 65th; Abdul-Salaam, Seattle, 84th; Frei, Seattle, 90th+1.

Referee—Jair Marrufo. Assistant Referees—Jeff Hosking, Jose Da Silva, Edvin Jurisevic. 4th Official—Lukasz Szpala.

A—25,218.

Lineups

Seattle—Stefan Frei, Kelvin Leerdam (Saad Abdul-Salaam, 74th), Xavier Arreaga, Kim Kee-Hee, Joevin Jones (Emanuel Cecchini, 79th), Cristian Roldan, Gustav Svensson, Nicolas Lodeiro, Jordy Delem, Jordan Morris (Bradley Shaun Smith, 66th), Raul Ruidiaz.

Portland—Steve Clark, Zarek Valentin, Julio Cascante (Andy Polo, 80th), Bill Tuiloma, Jorge Villafana, Marvin Loria (Jeremy Ebobisse, 46th), Diego Chara, Diego Valeri, Cristhian Paredes (Tomas Conechny, 72nd), Sebastian Blanco, Brian Fernandez.

SANTA TERESA, N.M. — Work crews in Arizona and New Mexico forged ahead Friday with construction of taller border fencing funded through a national emergency declaration by President Donald Trump.

The work on his hallmark campaign promise involves mostly replacement fencing along a 46-mile stretch of desert west of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and on 2 miles of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona.

At the New Mexico site, about 20 workers placed rebar frames for concrete footers along the path of the wall. A 50-foot crane towered over the site, standing out on the treeless brushland and cracked washes that stretch for miles in every direction.

Workers broke ground between Columbus and Santa Teresa — small towns near ports of entry along the border between New Mexico and the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.

In Arizona, crews were installing 30-foot steel fencing to replace older barriers next to a border crossing known as Lukeville Port of Entry.

Both projects are being funded with money initially allocated to the Defense Department that was redirected by Trump’s executive order.

Use of the money was previously frozen by lower courts while a lawsuit proceeded. Last month, however, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the use of about $2.5 billion.

A border wall was a keystone of the president’s 2016 election campaign, but Congress has resisted funding all of it. This year it allocated $1.4 billion, but the president wanted much more.

The administration has awarded $2.8 billion in contracts for barriers covering 247 miles, with all but 17 miles of that to replace existing barriers instead of expanding coverage.

Various forms of barriers already exist along 654 miles — about a third — of the border.

The construction comes as immigrant apprehensions have fallen sharply over the past two months due to the summer heat and a clamp down in Mexico.

Tens of thousands of people have come to the U.S. over the past year. Most are Central American families with children who turn themselves in to agents instead of trying to dodge them.

Environmentalists have sued over some of the construction contracts for the fencing, saying the government unlawfully waived dozens of laws so it could build on protected lands.

Conservationists say a wall — and its construction– would be detrimental to wildlife habitat and would block the migration of animals such as bighorn sheep and wolves.