Crowded GOP Primary Loses Its First Candidate

As campaigns take stock after the first Republican primary debate, one candidate has decided there’s no point in continuing his bid.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a long-shot candidate who failed to qualify for the first debate, officially called it quits on Tuesday.

“Running for President of the United States has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Suarez wrote in a wordy statement on his X account. “While I have decided to suspend my campaign for President, my commitment to making this a better nation for every American remains.”

He called out the Biden administration for its failures and pledged to support a worthy nominee.

“The current Administration is failing our country. Inflation remains high, elevated interest rates are punishing young Americans, the southern border is wide open, crime is rising, and our enemies and adversaries are growing bolder and stronger. We deserve better.”

“I look forward to keeping in touch with the other Republican presidential candidates and doing what I can to make sure our party puts forward a strong nominee who can inspire and unify the country, renew Americans’ trust in our institutions and in each other, and win,” he concluded the post.

The mayor was able to meet the RNC’s unique donor requirement, but polling was a struggle.

He launched his campaign late in the summer which gave his opponents an insurmountable polling head start.

“The people who I’m running against right now are national figures for many, many years. I’ve been a national figure for 60 days,” said Suarez at the beginning of the month. “There’s a lot of polls that I haven’t been in.”

He informed the media he intended to drop out if he couldn’t make the debate stage.

“If you can’t meet the minimum thresholds, you shouldn’t be trying to take time and volume away from people that do,” he said at the Iowa State Fair, adding, “I don’t think candidates should just sort of linger around if they don’t have a credible path.”

Making good on his words, the Suarez campaign is now officially over.