Rand Paul drops out of GOP presidential race
Days after earning only one delegate in the Iowa caucus, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has exited the GOP presidential race, not seeing a strong showing in New Hampshire, possibly being excluded from the Saturday debate.
photo/ donkey hotey
“It’s been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House,” Paul said in a statement. “Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of liberty.
“Brushfires of Liberty were ignited, and those will carry on, as will I,” Paul said. Check out the video below.
Politico reports that Steve Munisteri, a senior adviser to Paul called the Senator after the Iowa caucuses to ask his thoughts on continuing the campaign. “The going end goal was if we got a top five we would go on. Then Rand reflected on it and he called to get my advice and my advice was that he not go on,” Munisteri said of the Tuesday morning call.
While Paul earned almost 5%, finishing fifth, he only one delegate, the same as Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina and John Kasich, who all finished behind Paul in Iowa. Only the top three are guaranteed a spot in the next debate with ABC using polls to fill the stage, not the results from Iowa.
The latest UMass/Lowell 7News poll had Paul at only 2%, which landed him in 8th place and likely not on the debate stage Saturday.
Paul struggled to raise serious campaign cash, with $1.27 million in the bank and nearly $250,000 in unpaid bills and some of the remaining money unavailable because it was earmarked to be used only in a general election.
“Some of the staff found out yesterday, the rest found out this morning,” a source close to Paul’s campaign in New Hampshire told ABC News. “Obviously people here at the office are disappointed, but we think his message will continue to resonate with the freedom movement in the Republican Party.”
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