Rand Paul Suspends His Presidential Campaign After Finishing Fifth In Iowa Caucus

While the former senator has yet to tip his hand as to whom among the nine remaining Republican candidates he plans to endorse, a key factor will likely be his close ties to the evangelical community.

By ending his campaign, Paul is now free to focus on his 2016 U.S. Senate re-election, easing the minds of many Kentucky and national Republicans who long anxious that Paul was flirting with disaster by pursuing two offices at once.

Paul discussed the matter with staff Wednesday morning and sent out a statement confirming the decision to drop out of the Republican presidential primary.

He is heavily favored to win re-election to the Senate.

“We decide to support Marco Rubio”, he said.

But his appeal never broadened much beyond the libertarian-leaning Republicans who backed the previous White House bids of his father, Rep. Ron Paul.

“Rand Paul is to be commended for waging the good fight, and I look forward to his continued work for small government and greater freedom in the U.S. Senate”. Paul was low on the lifeblood of presidential campaigns, too – he had just over $1 million at the start of 2016, according to campaign finance records. We hope Paul remains in the Senate to check the power of our next President, no matter whom we elect.

Mike Huckabee, the former Republican governor of Arkansas, and Martin O’Malley, the former Democratic governor of Maryland, suspended their campaigns on Monday night after disappointing Iowa performances.

Paul will not make an endorsement in the GOP presidential race before next week’s New Hampshire primary, his spokesman Sergio Gor told CNN. He won his race thanks to a wave that was tea-party driven in 2010 and tangled quite often with leaders in the GOP.

It is a particularly sharp reverse in fortunes for Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania who snatched Iowa from Mitt Romney four years ago but has languished at the back of the pack for months. After Cruz finished a media availability here nearly entirely about the latest attacks from Donald Trump, Cruz walked away – but then in a rare display for the disciplined candidate, turned around and returned to reporters when asked a shouted question if he had any reaction to Rand’s departure.

Santorum entered the race in May as a heavy underdog in a Republican field featuring more than a dozen high-profile candidates – many of them newcomers to presidential politics.

After qualifying for five prime-time debates – and enduring Trump’s suggestion that he not bother running anymore – Paul was dropped from the sixth face-to-face confrontation. He was invited back for the seventh and final prime-time debate before the Iowa caucuses.

“I’ve always been able to do well with young people”, Kasich told Karl, referring to Paul’s popularity among college students.