Republican presidential candidate Jim Gilmore greets voters outside the polling place at Webster School on primary day February 9, 2016 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

Former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore is suspending his campaign for president, having failed to garner significant support in polls or primaries.

“My campaign was intended to offer the gubernatorial experience, with the track record of a true conservative, experienced in national security, to unite the party,” Gilmore said in a statement. “I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that our next President is a free enterprise Republican who will restore our nation to greatness and keep our citizens safe.”

Gilmore spent very little money campaigning and had little name recognition outside of Virginia. He polled so poorly that he did not qualify for the “undercard” in many of the Republican presidential debates. He did, surprisingly, qualify for the debate before the Iowa caucuses.

[Remembering the greatest 45 minutes of Jim Gilmore’s political life]

Gilmore got just 133 votes in New Hampshire — fewer than several candidates who had already dropped out the race by that point. In the Iowa caucuses a week earlier, he got 12 votes.

He last won election, to governor, in 1997. He served in that position until 2002 and spent the final year as chairman of the Republican National Committee, before resigning over differences with the George W. Bush administration.

In 2007, Gilmore launched his first presidential bid; he quit the race a few months later. He then ran for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and lost by a wide margin to Democrat Mark R. Warner.