U.S. Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced Wednesday that he is suspending his presidential campaign.
"It's been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty," Paul said in a statement, according to CNBC. "Across the country thousands upon thousands of young people flocked to our message of limited government, privacy, criminal justice reform and a reasonable foreign policy. Brushfires of Liberty were ignited, and those will carry on, as will I."
Paul, who has served on the Senate since 2011, launched his bid for the White House in April and tried to appeal to voters as an alternative to establishment candidates. However, he consistently failed to break ahead of stronger candidates like Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Ben Carson. The gap only widened in the fall, with Paul polling even weaker as the primary continued.
His poor polling reached its climax this week when he finished fifth in Iowa, obtaining less than 5 percent of the vote, and he was predicted to do even worse in New Hampshire, as polls show him in ninth place. according to Politico.
Fundraising was also a major issue for his campaign, which only managed to raise $2.1 million in the quarter while spending $2.9 million. By the quarter's end, Paul had just $1.3 million in the bank for his campaign.
Prior to the Iowa caucus, Paul received a major blow when he didn't make it to the main stage for the sixth GOP debate. While he managed to make it back for last week's debate, he failed to make much of an impact.
"Although, today I will suspend my campaign for president, the fight is far from over. I will continue to carry the torch for Liberty in the United States Senate and I look forward to earning the privilege to represent the people of Kentucky for another term," he concluded.
