Republican race
January 19, 2012
Texas Governor Rick Perry withdrew his US Presidential bid on Thursday, endorsing former house speak Newt Gingrich for the Republican nomination.
"I have come to the conclusion that there is no viable path forward for me in this 2012 campaign," Perry said at a press conference in North Charleston, South Carolina.
"I know when it's time to make a strategic retreat," he added.
The move is a setback for the current front runner, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who is seen as a relative moderate and who has been profiting from the large number of candidates vying for support among the conservative wing of the party.
Perry's support dwindled in recent months after a series of embarrassing errors on the campaign trail. He finished in fifth place in the Iowa caucuses on January 3 and in sixth place in the New Hampshire primary on January 10. Polls in South Carolina, which holds its crucial primary contest on Saturday, suggested that Perry had just five percent of the vote.
Perry's endorsement is a major boost for Gingrich who is now gaining on Romney. The four remaining candidates - Gingrich, Romney, Rick Santorum and veteran Texas congressman Ron Paul - will compete on Thursday night in the final South Carolina debate ahead of Saturday's vote.
Iowa results flip
In another major setback on Thursday, Romney's victory in the Iowa caucuses was withdrawn. Certified results released by the Iowa Republican party found that conservative Christian Rick Santorum won by a narrow margin of 34 votes, despite Romney having been declared winner - by just eight votes - on the night.
Romney now falls into second place. With results from eight precincts still missing, however, the final outcome of the vote may never be known.
The Mormon conservative has been leading the contest to select a challenger to President Barack Obama in November, after convincingly winning the New Hampshire primary on January 10.
Gingrich had trailed Romney by double-digits in the South Carolina opinion polls. Recent surveys, however, show him closing fast on the multi-millionaire venture capitalist.
Author: Charlotte Chelsom-Pill (AFP, Reuters, AP)
Editor: Michael Lawton