Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said on Tuesday that he was dropping out of the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Hutchinson’s announcement came after a poor performance on Monday at the Iowa caucuses, where he picked up less than half a percent of the vote. Former President Donald Trump dominated, winning 51% of the votes and all but one of Iowa’s 99 counties.
“I congratulate Donald J. Trump for his win last night in Iowa and to the other candidates who competed and garnered delegate support,” Hutchinson said. “Today, 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.”
Hutchinson became the second candidate to drop out after the caucus, following tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. His campaign failed to garner much support, and he did not qualify for any debates after the first. He was far behind the other trailing Republican candidates, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (21.2%), former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley (19.1%), and Ramaswamy (7.7%).
“I stand by the campaign I ran. I answered every question, sounded the warning to the GOP about the risks in 2024 and presented hope for our country’s future,” Hutchinson said.
The former governor was a frequent critic of Trump and launched his campaign by calling on Trump to drop out. Before announcing his run last year, Hutchinson promised “to do everything” to ensure that Trump did not get the Republican nomination.
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“I mean, first of all, the office is more important than any individual person,” Hutchinson said in April during his announcement. “And so for the sake of the office of the presidency, I do think that’s too much of a sideshow and distraction and he needs to be able to concentrate on his due process and there is a presumption of innocence.”
Hutchinson also faced criticism on the campaign trail over his past veto of a bill banning transgender procedures for minors during his time as governor. He said he opposed the bill because of parental rights and limited government.