Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is officially out of the GOP presidential race.
Once considered a favorite for the Republican nomination, Walker announced Monday that he is suspending his presidential campaign.
“I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the field in this race so that a positive, conservative message can rise to the top of the field,” Walker said at a press conference in Madison, Wisconsin.
A super PAC backing Walker initially had plenty of cash, but the campaign funds began to dry up after Walker’s lackluster performance in the first GOP presidential debate. Donors began to look elsewhere.
Walker has plummeted in the polls since the second GOP debate. In a CNN/ORC poll released Sunday, Walker polled at less then one-half of 1 percent nationally. This puts Walker below most of the contenders in the field.
Walker has also come under fire for failing to answer a simple question about whether he believes President Obama loves America and flip-flopping on issues like birthright citizenship.
Some of Walker’s competitors commended him for dropping out of the race. On Twitter, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump had nothing but nice things to say about Walker.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>.<a href=”https://twitter.com/ScottWalker”>@ScottWalker</a> is a good man who entered the presidential race after winning three grueling campaigns in four years.</p>— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) <a href=”https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/646085787356954625″>September 21, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>I got to know <a href=”https://twitter.com/ScottWalker”>@ScottWalker</a> well—he’s a very nice person and has a great future.</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=”https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/646076422126223364″>September 21, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Walker exits the race just 10 days after Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Perry was the first of the Republicans to suspend their candidacy. With Walker and Perry gone, 15 GOP candidates remain.
