Republican Asa Hutchinson ends 2024 presidential campaign

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is ending his 2024 race for president after a dismal sixth-place showing in the Iowa caucuses underscored how little he had been embraced by Republican voters.

With 99% of the expected results in, Hutchinson secured just 191 votes in the Iowa caucuses and zero pledged delegates as of Tuesday morning, appearing to underperform his .07% polling average in the Hawkeye State and trailing little-known pastor Ryan Binkley, who has no national profile to speak of.

«My message of being a principled Republican with experience and telling the truth about the current front runner did not sell in Iowa,» Hutchinson said in a statement, referring to Donald Trump. «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 he had congratulated Trump on the latter's victory in Iowa and added, "[My wife] Susan and I are blessed beyond measure, and we are grateful for the opportunity to have fought in the political arena for America."

Heading into Iowa's contest, Hutchinson had wanted to make it into the top four and beat businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who has since dropped out.

Since launching his campaign in April 2023, Hutchinson never managed to build significant momentum in the polls or with donors and he failed to meet the requirements for each of the Republican primary debates following the first stage last August.

He initially vowed to stay in the race through Thanksgiving, testing to see whether he would break 4% in an early voting state, a goal he did not meet.

But he kept his bid going well beyond that self-imposed deadline — holding dozens of Iowa meet-and-greets in what he called a