Following a disappointing sixth-place finish in Iowa on Monday, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced he is dropping out of the presidential race. He is the second candidate to bow out since Monday's Iowa caucuses, following Vivek Ramaswamy, who announced Monday night he is exiting the race.
Hutchinson had less than 0.2% of the vote, picking up zero delegates. Hutchinson and Ramaswamy joined a long list of Republicans, such as Chris Christie, Tim Scott and Mike Pence, whose campaigns failed to gain traction.
Monday's Iowa caucuses were dominated by former President Donald Trump, who picked up over 51% of the vote.
"I congratulate Donald J. Trump for his win last night in lowa and to the other candidates who competed and garnered delegate support. Today, I am suspending my campaign for President and driving back to Arkansas," he said.
Of the remaining candidates, Hutchinson was the most critical of Trump.
"This is going to go into the spring, and the gathering storm clouds around Donald Trump will start to dump in the spring. And so we’ve got to be prepared, and you've got to be in the race to show that there are options," Hutchinson told Scripps News on Monday.
Trump is facing multiple criminal trials in the next year. One of them involves his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House. Unlike most of the other GOP candidates, Hutchinson took on the former president.
"I have reviewed the indictment and they have a very good case, and I have to say today is not a very good day for Donald Trump," Hutchinson said in June 2023. "And while he tried to turn this into a campaign rally, I think he understands the seriousness of this and how he's going to have to face a jury on this question."
In an interview with Scripps News on Monday, Hutchinson said that "there's this artificial pressure to narrow the race," as recent debates have excluded him due to low polling numbers.
In Iowa, Hutchinson finished behind Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Ramaswamy and pastor Ryan Binkley.
