LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) 鈥 Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson dropped his long-shot bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, ending a candidacy that was a throwback to an earlier era of the GOP but ultimately failed to resonate in a party now dominated by Donald Trump.
Hutchinson's exit came a day after he finished sixth in , well behind Trump and other top rivals but also behind Ryan Binkley, a pastor who failed to qualify for any of the debates. Hutchinson was the last GOP candidate remaining in the race who was willing to directly take on Trump.
鈥淚 congratulate Donald J. Trump for and to the other candidates who competed and garnered delegate support," Hutchinson said in a statement. 鈥淭oday, I am suspending my campaign for President and driving back to Arkansas. My message of being a principled Republican with experience and telling the truth about the current front runner did not sell in Iowa.鈥
Hutchinson's campaign manager, Alison Williams, said he wasn't issuing an endorsement at this time.
During the campaign, he failed to register beyond 1 percentage point in most polls and drew sparse crowds even as the Republican presidential field winnowed from more than a dozen candidates down to a handful. Another competitor, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Monday night after finishing fourth in Iowa, behind Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Hutchinson stayed in the race even as better-financed and well-known candidates such as former Vice President and South Carolina Sen. dropped out last year. On Tuesday, Hutchinson said he stood by the campaign he ran.
鈥淚 answered every question, sounded the warning to the GOP about the risks in 2024 and presented hope for our country鈥檚 future,鈥 he said in his statement.
During the first debate, Hutchinson was booed by some audience members when he said he wouldn鈥檛 support Trump if the former president was convicted in , and he questioned whether Trump was disqualified from holding office because of his role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
鈥淚 am not going to support somebody who鈥檚 been convicted of a serious felony or who is disqualified under our Constitution,鈥 Hutchinson said.
He failed to meet the qualifications for the next four presidential debates, an unwelcome development that denied him needed exposure.
Before entering the race, he called another Trump White House run the 鈥渨orst scenario鈥 for the GOP and said the former president鈥檚 call to terminate parts of the Constitution hurt the country.
He objected to the Republican 春色直播 Committee鈥檚 requirement that candidates support the eventual nominee to qualify for the debate stage, though he ultimately signed the pledge. He said the party should instead require hopefuls to vow to not run as third-party candidates.
Hutchinson, whose candidacy harked back to an earlier era of the Republican Party, preferred dry policy discussions or appearances on Sunday talk shows to boisterous rallies or social media fights. Although he鈥檚 been a fixture in Arkansas politics going back decades, he was little known outside his home state.
He was crowded out by other better-known candidates who had competing appeals to GOP voters. His criticisms of Trump were overshadowed by similar comments from Chris Christie, the former governor from New Jersey.
After days before Iowa鈥檚 caucuses, Hutchinson commended him for speaking 鈥渢he hard truth鈥 and 鈥渉ighlighting the risks of a Donald Trump presidency,鈥 noting the high political price he paid.
鈥淎s for me,鈥 Hutchinson said in a statement before the caucuses, 鈥淚 am competing for votes in the Iowa caucuses and I plan to beat expectations here. I remain the only candidate who has not promised a pardon to Donald Trump and my voice continues to be critical in this race.鈥
Hutchinson joins Ramaswamy, Christie, Pence, Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, radio show host Larry Elder, businessman Perry Johnson, former Texas congressman Will Hurd and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez in suspending his bid for the GOP nomination.
He formally in April in Bentonville, the northwest Arkansas town where he got his start as an attorney and first ran unsuccessfully for elected office.
Hutchinson had used the city, which is also retail giant Walmart鈥檚 home, to portray himself as a business-friendly conservative. He had contrasted that with DeSantis, who has been engaged in a bitter public feud with Disney in Florida.
Hutchinson, who finished his two terms as Arkansas governor in 2023, is also a former congressman who served as one of the House managers prosecuting the impeachment case against then-President Bill Clinton.
Previously, Hutchinson served in President George W. Bush鈥檚 White House as the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and as an undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He was also a federal prosecutor in Arkansas in the 1980s.
Hutchinson touted his law enforcement experience as unique, especially in addressing issues such as immigration and border security. He also cited it when talking about Trump鈥檚 legal woes.
Hutchinson, who had led a task force for the 春色直播 Rifle Association that called for armed and trained school personnel after the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, found a less than enthusiastic reception when he appeared before the group鈥檚 annual convention after launching his bid. He drew at least one yelled obscenity from the Trump-friendly crowd after he suggested President Joe Biden was 鈥減raying鈥 for a rematch with Trump in 2024 and declared, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 need a rerun of 2020.鈥
He had also pointed to his history of signing multiple abortion restrictions into law as governor, including a near-total ban that took effect when the U.S. Supreme Court . But Hutchinson stopped short of saying whether he鈥檇 support a six- or 15-week ban as president before telling conservatives he would sign into law a federal restriction.
