Skip navigation

Hunter drops out of GOP presidential race

California congressman cites poor showing in Nevada

Video: Decision '08  
  
Turning Point: 2008
Nov. 5: NBC's Tom Brokaw recaps the historic election of America's first black president. Produced by msnbc.com's Kevin Flynn.

  The candidates in pictures
U.S. Republican presidential nominee Senator McCain points into the crowd at an airport campaign rally in Roswell
Reuters
Final push
Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain make their final appeals to voters.
Image: President Richard Nixon greets John McCain after he returned from Vietnam.
AP file
John McCain
The Republican presidential candidates' life has revolved around the public need.
Barak "Barry" Obama
Punahoe Schools via AP
The life of Barack Obama
The path of the president-elect, from childhood to party leader
Image: Sarah Palin
The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman via AP
Sarah Palin
The fast-track governor's rise from Alaska beauty queen to governor to John McCain’s running mate.
AP file
Joseph Biden
The senator's legacy of public service and life filled with second chances.
updated 8:47 p.m. ET Jan. 19, 2008

SAN DIEGO - Rep. Duncan Hunter is dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination after a poor showing in the Nevada caucus, his campaign said Saturday.

“We thought we’d do much better in Nevada, but the numbers weren’t there,” said campaign spokesman Bob Bevill. “We were not able to get any traction.”

In recent weeks Hunter, a California congressman, was forced at every stop to dispel rumors that the campaign was already dead and was unable to talk about the issues, Bevill said. The best showing of Hunter’s campaign was in Wyoming’s Jan. 5 caucuses, in which he won 8 percent of the vote, finishing third behind Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

“The media has a ’vote someone off the island’ mentality and Duncan Hunter was a casualty of that,” said Bevill.

Hunter, a Vietnam veteran, was elected to Congress in 1980 as part of President Reagan’s sweep into power. He appealed to some conservatives by focusing on military issues and border security.

© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored links

Resource guide