By Ben Kamisar - 02-03-16 09:00 AM EST
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is suspending his campaign and dropping out of the presidential race.
"It's been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of liberty," he said in a statement.
The decision follows a disappointing finish in the Iowa caucuses, where Paul won just 4.5 percent of the vote for a fifth place showing.
He's also faced criticism from some Republicans who want him to focus on his Senate reelection bid in a year where Democrats are threatening to retake the Senate.
Paul has struggled with lackluster fundraising and polling that has kept him on the bubble of the GOP main debate stage. He boycotted the Fox Business undercard debate in January after failing to make the main stage, but squeaked back into the primetime debate for a Fox News debate later that month.
Paul would have been a longshot to make this Saturday's ABC News debate, which does not include an undercard portion.
The main stage will include the top three finishers in Iowa, as well as the top six candidates both in national polls and in polls of New Hampshire voters. By Wednesday morning, Paul sat in seventh place in RealClearPolitics' average of national polls and in ninth place in RCP's New Hampshire polling.
Here's the full statement from Paul announcing his decision:
"It's been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty.
Across the country thousands upon thousands of young people flocked to our message of limited government, privacy, criminal justice reform and a reasonable foreign policy. Brushfires of Liberty were ignited, and those will carry on, as will I.
Although, today I will suspend my campaign for President, the fight is far from over. I will continue to carry the torch for Liberty in the United States Senate and I look forward to earning the privilege to represent the people of Kentucky for another term."
No comments:
Post a Comment