Washington – Scott Walker suspended his campaign today for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination according to several sources. It was first reported by The New York Times earlier today that Walker was on his way out.
The Wisconsin governor who six months ago was considered one of the 2016 GOP Presidential frontrunners fell out of favor with the Republican establishment. He was the darling of the conservatives who loved his union busting actions in Wisconsin but he did not play well on the national stage.
One reason that Walker bowed out of the race was because he failed to get traction and he had two less than stellar debate appearances. That led to donors to start running away from Walker, the same man they loved just months ago.
Yesterday’s new CNN poll that showed Walker got less than half a percentage point, placing him behind 11 other GOP presidential candidates.
It’s a sudden and surprising fall for the Wisconsin governor, who led polls in Iowa for several months earlier this year after a well-received speech there in January that inspired both the party’s grassroots and its donor class.
For months, he was viewed as a frontrunner for the GOP’s nomination, but he failed to consolidate support and did not live up to the early hype he inspired.
Questions in recent days have focused on whether his hobbled campaign can recover financially.
Last spring and early summer, Walker rode high among polls and pundits alike, allowing his allied political group, the super PAC Unintimdated, to raise nearly $20 million between April and June alone. But during that time the governor was not an announced candidate for the White House and couldn’t fundraise for his actual campaign under federal election rules.
Since Walker announced in July, his standing in the political horse race for president has quickly eroded, a situation that complicates fundraising for any candidate.
This is good news for Florida Senator Marco Rubio, former Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the establishment candidates that remain in the race. Walker’s leaving the race only a week after former Texas Gov. Rick Perry dropped out.
In a recent New Hampshire poll by WBUR, Walker had one of the better image ratings in the GOP field, but was supported by only 1 percent of likely Republican primary voters.
The governor has retained strong favorability numbers and low negatives among Republicans, but at the moment is simply not registering strongly with them.
