Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX) speaks during a town hall meeting at the University of Maryland on March 28, 2012 in College Park, Maryland.
US congressman Ron Paul says he is suspending active campaigning in the race for the White House and will instead continue to amass delegates for the Republican National Convention, which will be held in Tampa, Florida in August.
The Texas congressman made the announcement in a statement posted on his official website on Monday.
He told his supporters that he would stop spending money on the Republican Party’s 11 remaining primaries and will immediately begin to concentrate on collecting delegates in order to give former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney a run for his money at the Republican National Convention later this summer.
“Our campaign will continue to work in the state convention process,” Paul said in the statement, adding, “We will continue to take leadership positions, win delegates, and carry a strong message to the Republican National Convention that Liberty is the way of the future.”
Paul was Romney’s last remaining active rival in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate in the general election in November. Rick Santorum suspended his campaign in April and Newt Gingrich dropped out of the race in May.
Paul’s chances of overtaking Romney are virtually nil, however, since he has only won 104 of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the GOP nomination.
Primaries are being held in Nebraska and Oregon on Tuesday, in Arkansas and Kentucky a week later, and in Texas on May 29. In June, California, New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah will stage the final primaries.
In the US, a president is not elected directly by the people, but by the Electoral College. This means a candidate may be elected, despite losing the popular vote.
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