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Rick Perry 'to end' White House bid | Rick Perry 'to end' White House bid |
(40 minutes later) | |
Texas Governor Rick Perry is about to withdraw from the Republican presidential race. | |
He is due to hold a news briefing soon in North Charleston, South Carolina, to announce his exit. | |
Mr Perry is tipped to endorse former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for the Republican presidential nomination. | Mr Perry is tipped to endorse former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for the Republican presidential nomination. |
When Mr Perry entered the race in August, he briefly shot to the front of the pack before gaffes and poor debate performances set him back. | When Mr Perry entered the race in August, he briefly shot to the front of the pack before gaffes and poor debate performances set him back. |
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is the front-runner in the state-by-state race for the Republican Party's nomination to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama for the White House this November. | Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is the front-runner in the state-by-state race for the Republican Party's nomination to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama for the White House this November. |
Recent opinion polls have shown a resurgent Mr Gingrich gaining on Mr Romney, although he still trails by about 10 percentage points. | |
Iowa result muddle | |
However, the thrice-married Mr Gingrich could be embarrassed by an interview ABC News will broadcast with his former wife, Marianne, on its Nightline show later on Thursday. | |
The expected withdrawal of Mr Perry leaves four candidates: Mr Romney, Mr Gingrich, veteran Texas Congressman Ron Paul and Christian conservative Rick Santorum. | |
All four will battle it out on Thursday night in the final nationally televised debate before South Carolina's primary on Saturday. | |
After finishing fifth in Iowa's first-in-the-nation nominating contest, Mr Perry briefly reconsidered his campaign before ploughing on. | After finishing fifth in Iowa's first-in-the-nation nominating contest, Mr Perry briefly reconsidered his campaign before ploughing on. |
He skipped campaigning in the moderate New England state of New Hampshire to focus on South Carolina. But his message failed to take off even in that conservative southern state. | He skipped campaigning in the moderate New England state of New Hampshire to focus on South Carolina. But his message failed to take off even in that conservative southern state. |
His departure will follow on the heels of former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and last month, Georgia businessman Herman Cain. | |
Mr Perry has faced calls to quit the race in recent days as rival candidates warned the conservative vote would fracture across the candidates, ultimately benefiting Mr Romney. | |
Mr Romney's Mormon faith and political record as governor of the moderate state of Massachusetts is viewed with suspicion by some conservative Republicans. | |
Also on Thursday, the final results of the Iowa caucuses were certified as a split decision between Mr Romney and Mr Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, because of missing data. | |
Mr Romney had initially been declared the winner of the 3 January nominating contest by eight votes. | |
But the final count shows Mr Santorum ahead by 34 votes, although no winner has been declared because the results from eight precincts are missing. | |
According to the certified vote totals, Mr Santorum won 29,839 votes while Mr Romney had 29,805. Mr Paul finished in third place with 26,036. | |
Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn announced the results at a news conference on Thursday morning. | |
The Romney campaign called the outcome a "virtual tie", while the Santorum campaign said it changed the narrative of the race. |