Rick Satorium Surrenders Bid for White House At Gettysburg, PA

Rick Santorum

Today, Rick Santorum suspended his bid for the presidency. He held a press conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and said, "We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting."

Early Tuesday morning, the campaign announced that Santorum's three-year-old daughter Bella, who suffers from a genetic condition called Trisomy 18, had been released from the hospital after falling ill over the weekend. The campaign said that the morning events had been cancelled so Santorum could help his family "settle in at home." Press Secretary Alice Stewart says Santorum held a conference call with all his staff at 1:45pm today to advise them to his decision.

Although Rick Santorum did not endorse any remaining Republican candidate, he clearly identified that he would continue to work to to defeat President Obama and will help Republicans win the Senate in the fall.

Mitt Romney in a statement, addressed Rick Santorum as "an able and worthy competitor." Romney added, "He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation. We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity."

The Washington Post declared "Former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul remain in the campaign, but neither has shown the ability to be a consistent alternative to Romney. Gingrich, in particular, has seen his campaign hit a rough patch of late. He’s finished fourth in the last two major contests and revealed over the weekend that his campaign was $4.5 million in debt.  Santorum’s exit virtually assures that Romney will secure the Republican Party’s nomination, though he so far has secured only about 60 percent of the delegates that he needs."

Pennsylvania primary is on Tuesday, April 24, 2012.  Note, Rick Santorum is still a candidate even though he has suspended his campaign.  He may continue raising money to retire his campaign debt and he still has general control over the delegates who will cast their vote for him at least on the first ballot.  However, as former Gov. Mike Huckabee did in the 2008 Republican Presidential primary, Santorum will most likely release his delegates.  Santorum will also still appear at the Republican National Convention in Florida and may potentially pick up additional delegates in the remaining primaries where his campaign has already paid the filing fees to be on the ballot.  For example, Santorum is already on the Republican primary ballot in Arkansas which will not be held until May 22, 2012.

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