Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign on Sunday, a stunning fall from grace for a conservative leader long seen as the biggest threat to former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. became.
“We can't get supporters to volunteer their time and resources without a clear path to victory,” DeSantis said. stated in a message to supporters. “It's clear that the vast majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.”
“This operation has ended, but the mission continues,” he continued. “Here in Florida, we will continue to show how we lead our country.”
Mr. DeSantis, who entered the presidential race last May, sought to build on the national profile he had built as an immigration hardliner and a politician who has fought COVID-19 mandates. After winning re-election by a 19-point margin in November 2022, DeSantis' profile exploded and he was quickly seen by many Republicans as a conservative who could go head-to-head with Trump and win the Republican nomination. It had been.
Several polls conducted before DeSantis entered the race actually showed the governor polling higher than Trump, at which point the Republican Party stumbled in the 2022 midterm elections. , the former president's fragile political situation has become clear.
After Mr. DeSantis entered the race, he was competitive in early voting states, but his numbers declined sharply nationally as the summer turned into fall. He staked his campaign on winning the Iowa caucuses, but Trump's standing in the state had only strengthened by the end of last year.
Mr. Trump's myriad legal issues appear to have had the effect of boosting his approval ratings with Republican primary voters, thereby freezing Mr. DeSantis' status as a viable alternative to the former president.
Trump continued to win the Iowa caucuses, receiving 51% of the vote, to DeSantis' 21% and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley's 19%. Despite campaigning in all 99 counties in Iowa, DeSantis was unable to win a single county in the state.
DeSantis' withdrawal from the race comes two days before the New Hampshire primary. It was a campaign in which he struggled for relevance, with most of the votes in the single digits.
In recent days, the governor has been trying to shift his focus to the Feb. 24 South Carolina Republican primary, where Trump is leading and has significant support in Haley's home state. , the path to continuing the election campaign became extremely uncertain.
