Walker drops out of Republican race

Those successes were often touted as central to his appeal as a presidential candidate. “He has made a decision not to limp into Iowa“.

But Westcott, who has been a fan of Walker’s since the governor fended off a union-backed recall attempt, said he was still trying to process his abrupt withdrawal. Prior to the recent departure of Texas Gov. Rick Perry from that field, 16 major candidates were in the GOP race.

He took days to clarify whether he supported ending birthright citizenship. His verbal missteps – often the result of answering questions on the campaign trail with responses that he was forced to amend and later clarify – had been a topic of concern among his own loyalists. Todd Ricketts, the campaign’s finance chair, was scheduled to host a fundraiser for Walker in New York on Thursday. “I know he’ll continue to do that as Governor”, he tweeted.

Many of Walker’s troubles were not of Trump’s making. Rubio and Walker have expressed admiration for one another on the trail – with Walker even openly floating Rubio as his potential vice president – and both have tried to bridge the GOP establishment with its more conservative grassroots. While Iowa and its kickoff caucus gave Walker the best chance to grab an early victory, his campaign built a wide network of staff and consultants in states that don’t vote until well into March.

Some analysts believe Mr Trump, who is at odds with Republican leadership on key issues like tax policy, has benefited as voters have split over a field of more than a dozen candidates.

“That’s been some of the effort this afternoon and going forward”, Bush told reporters after a campaign stop in northern Iowa.

And it’s not just Iowa: Cruz also announced Walker pick ups in Georgia and Nevada, later-voting states where Walker once said his national campaign could compete. While his super PAC has said it will return its remaining funds to donors, those relationships could make him an especially attractive running mate prospect for any general election nominee who may be running short of money after a bruising primary.

Already on Monday, Walker’s New Hampshire co-chairman had defected to the campaign of Florida Sen. James Davis, a spokesman for the Koch-affiliated Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, praised Walker on Monday, but made it clear that the network has yet to settle on a Republican contender and may not do so.

“I’m disappointed”, said Stanley Hubbard, a billionaire media mogul from Minneapolis who had backed Walker’s campaign.