Pence suspends presidential campaign
Former Vice President Mike Pence became the first major Republican candidate to drop out of the presidential race, announcing the move on Saturday at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas. “After much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today,” he said. “We always knew this would be an uphill battle, but I have no regrets.” Pence’s campaign had struggled to raise money and gain traction in the polls, which have seen former President Donald Trump maintain a decisive lead over his GOP rivals.
According to FiveThirtyEight averages, as of Oct. 30 Trump is favored by 56.9 percent of likely Republican primary voters, trailed by Florida Gov.
Ron DeSantis with 14.1 percent support. The former vice president, an evangelical Christian who previously served as governor of Indiana and represented the state’s Second and Sixth Congressional Districts in the U.S.
House of Representatives, has an anti-LGBTQ, socially conservative record. During the most recent Republican primary debates on Sept.
