Gov. Scott Walker drops out of 2016 race

The same day Walker bowed out of the race, one of his state campaign co-chairs signed on with Marco Rubio. While stepping aside, he urged others to quit, too – suggesting that a smaller pool of candidates would be better positioned to take down Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Marco Rubio jumped at the opportunity to distance himself from Congress during last week’s Republican debate. His staff disagreed about how the 47-year-old Walker could regain the star status he held after electrifying conservatives in Iowa in January.

“It was a surprise to everyone”, said Sanborn, a Bedford Republican. “We all knew this was going to happen”. That means his departure will have little near-term impact on reshuffling the field, a few strategists say. Other low-polling Republicans may well pull out in the weeks ahead. That, combined with a less-than-stellar performance on the campaign trail, foreshadowed his doom.

Stanley Hubbard, a Minnesota media mogul who had previously been one of Walker’s top donors, told ABC News in an interview prior to the news that he was dropping out of the race, that he was planning to withdraw his exclusive support from Walker and give money to a number of other Republican candidates, including Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and Ben Carson.

“It has been communicated to me that he is getting out of the race”, said Iowa state Sen. Earlier this year, as campaigns raised millions of dollars under new rules allowing unlimited donations, it looked as if no candidate would ever need to drop out because of dwindling funds, laying the groundwork for a long, overcrowded race, and increasing the chances that an outsider like Trump would win.

Sullivan said at a Monday gathering of campaign managers that he personally must approve any expense over $500.

Scott Walker dropped out of the presidential race this week, exiting with the same forgettable tone that unfortunately defined and doomed his 2016 campaign. His favorability rating is also at 38 percent in Iowa, with 40 percent of voters saying they see him negatively.

Schultz further proclaimed that he “feels vindicated” by Walker’s inability to secure the nomination and accused the conservative governor of being “a hack” and “good news for Republicans” because “his ego was as big as Asia.”

Others argued that Walker was not being aggressive enough, falling into a stereotype of Midwestern politeness, and that he needed to take a stronger approach to opponents like Trump. Certainly Ronald Reagan had great experience over eight years in California (as governor), dealing with federal and national issues and running an organization.

On Monday afternoon, Iowa state senator Tom Shipley confidently stated that he was still an unswayed supporter of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, no matter what the polls said. “I felt it was coming, but I didn’t think it would be so soon”, Anton said. As Wisconsin Public Radio’s Shawn Johnson reports, those victories never gave Walker long-term traction in the Republican primary, and his national campaign damaged his standing back home.

“You cannot say that Scott Walker, Rick Perry or myself were insiders in Washington“, said Jeb Bush, the former two-term Florida governor who is also the son and brother of presidents.

Walker enjoyed a large network of donors and activists, especially in Iowa, the newspaper said.