Scott Suspends Presidential Campaign, Support ‘Not Enough To Measure’

Further winnowing the GOP field, Senator Scott announced that he would be suspending his 2024 presidential campaign, raising the question of whether he will choose to endorse another candidate. In an interview with Fox News, Mr. Scott said Sunday evening, “I love America more today than I did on May 22. But when I go back to Iowa, it will not be as a presidential candidate,” adding, “I am suspending my campaign.”Mr. Scott dispelled speculation that he might be seeking the vice presidential nomination, saying, “Being vice president has never been on my to-do list for this campaign, and it’s certainly not there now.”The end of Mr. Scott’s campaign comes just after the third GOP presidential primary and as the race is becoming focused on two of Mr. Scott’s one-time competitors, Governor DeSantis and Ambassador Nikki Haley.Nationally, Mr. DeSantis retains his position as the second-place candidate after President Trump, though Ms. Haley has been gaining support steadily since late summer.FiveThirtyEight’s average of national polls shows that Mr. DeSantis leads Ms. Haley 14 percent to 8.7 percent. Mr. Scott enjoyed 2.2 percent support when he ended his campaign.The director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, Larry Sabato, said that Mr. Scott’s exit from the campaign isn’t likely to shake up the national race due to his low poll numbers.“Another one bites the dust. Don’t bother trying to figure out where his votes go,” Mr. Sabato said. “There aren’t enough to measure.”In the early states, however, Mr. Scott enjoyed more support. In Iowa, FiveThiryEight’s average of polls clocked support for Mr. Scott at 7.3 percent, meaning that Mr. Scott’s voters could be decisive in terms of whether Mr. DeSantis or Ms. Haley comes in second in the Iowa caucus.Mr. Scott’s relatively high support in Iowa was tied to evangelical Christians, a core Republican constituency, who make up an outsized portion of the GOP primary electorate there and 28 percent of the adult population, according to Pew Research.While it’s not clear whether those who supported Mr. Scott now favor another candidate, other candidates have made moves to appeal to the group by appealing to the group’s support for Israel. The Associated Press reports that support for Israel has become a top issue for many Iowa evangelicals in recent weeks, and it’s clear candidates have taken notice as both Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis have focused on the topic. Mr. DeSantis, though, has attempted to court the support of evangelical clergy in Iowa in a way that other candidates have not.Mr. DeSantis trails Mr. Trump 17.1 percent to 45.6 percent in Iowa. Ms. Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy poll at 13.8 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, in the Hawkeye State.There is a similar dynamic in New Hampshire, where Ms. Haley leads the pack of non-Trump candidates with 14.7 percent support, followed by Mr. DeSantis at 10.7 percent and Governor Christie at 9.9 percent. Mr. Scott enjoyed 4.6 percent support.In South Carolina, Mr. Scott’s home state, Ms. Haley leads Mr. DeSantis 10.9 percent to 11.4 percent. Ms. Scott had 7 percent support when he announced the end of his campaign.While Mr. Scott’s supporters could help either Ms. Haley or Mr. DeSantis in their competition for second place, they could have a bigger impact on the race if they choose to coalesce around a single candidate.Mr. Scott drew financial support from companies like Goldman Sachs, Capital Group, and Blackstone Group and maintained a healthy base of large private donors who provided a majority of the campaign’s contributions, according to an analysis by a campaign finance transparency site, Open Secrets.When Mr. Scott last ran for re-election in 2022, he was able to drum up more than $40 million from his donor network in a noncompetitive election in South Carolina and while he was preparing to launch a presidential bid. If the donors who funded Mr. Scott’s campaign thus far throw their support behind either Mr. DeSantis or Ms. Haley, it could help them secure their position as the premier alternative to Mr. Trump within the GOP.

Scott Suspends Presidential Campaign, Support ‘Not Enough To Measure’

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