With falling poll numbers and reports of his fund-raising drying up, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker ended his bid for the Republican nomination for president Monday afternoon.
At news conference in Madison, Walker put an end to his run just over two months after announcing his candidacy in July.
"I was sitting in church yesterday, and the pastor talked about people being called to lead in different ways," he said. "I believe by dropping out of the race I am being called to lead others to also drop out so that voters can focus on candidates with a positive message."
Walker took no questions at the news conference.
Prior to his official candidacy announcement, Walker had built a strong campaign and was among the leaders in most of the polls, both nationally and in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. His super PAC, "Unintimidated," raised $20 million, but reports were that some of his financial backers were unhappy with his debate performances. He created a huge staff of advisors and workers, and his campaign couldn’t raise the money to support that organization, according to a number of pundits.
CNN released a poll Sunday showing Walker with less than .5 percent support among likely Republican voters. He trailed 11 other candidates.
Once Donald Trump got into the race, he commanded the bulk of media attention, and polls further indicated that voters were looking for someone other than a politician. In the CNN poll, Trump led, followed by Carly Fiorina and then Ben Carson.
The two GOP televised debates were harmful to Walker’s campaign, as many observers said he delivered lackluster performances both times. In addition, Walker made a "major policy announcement" last week in an attempt to revitalize his campaign which, according to The New York Times, garnered very little public or media attention.
That announcement was that he wanted to get rid of the National Labor Relations Board and end federal public employees unions. Polls showed that the issue barely resonated with voters and was well down the list of what voters care about.
The withdrawal is a defeat for a candidate who has never lost an general election. He burst into national attention with a fiery speech in Iowa in January. He portrayed himself as an outsider and as a fighter. But according to polls, those claims were not believable to many voters. And while he said he was a fighter, he was unwilling to take on any of the other candidates, even when they tried to pick a fight with him.
Walker called himself "aggressively normal," but changed his position on a number of issues, and he found it difficult to define himself and maintain his strong performance during the first half of the year.
The next election for governor in Wisconsin will be in 2018, a non-presidential year with only the off-year congressional elections.
The Democratic National Committee released a statement after Walker's announcement.
"From the beginning, Walker’s campaign showcased the unabashed hostility that the Republican field has for working people, the middle class, immigrants, and women," said DNC spokesperson TJ Helmstetter in the statement. "No matter which Republican emerges as this reality show’s victor, voters will ultimately reject the Republican nominee’s jaw-dropping determination to cater to the wealthy at the expense of the middle class."
