Louisiana governor was most recently polling at 1% in national survey of Republican voters and says he has decided to suspend his campaign

Once a rising star in the Republican party, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has ended his campaign for the 2016 presidential nomination.

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“It has been a great honor for me to run for president of the United States,” he said, announcing his decision during an interview on Fox news. “This is not my time. I’ve come here to announce that I’m suspending my campaign for the presidency.”

Jindal said that he had decided to withdraw, in part, “given this crazy unpredictable election season”.



Jindal’s campaign had focused heavily on the crucial early state of Iowa. The Louisiana governor essentially camped there in an attempt to appeal to the evangelical social conservatives who make a significant proportion of caucus-goers. Jindal had shown some success in doing so in recent weeks, climbing as high as 6% in one recent poll of the state. However, it proved not to be enough for his campaign.

He faced a variety of obstacles. Jindal was long hamstrung by weak national poll numbers, anemic fundraising as well as low approval ratings in his home state –where only a third of voters approved of his leadership. His poor performance in national polls meant that he was kept off the main stage in presidential debates and instead relegated to the undercard debate. Jindal’s campaign complained ferociously about this exclusion to the RNC.



Jindal’s withdrawal is most likely to benefit Ted Cruz. The two candidates shared a variety of similarities. Both are first-generation Americans with ardently conservative platforms and strong support among social conservatives. With Cruz already gaining momentum in Iowa with the endorsement of Representative Steve King on Monday, Jindal’s departure from the race gives the Texas senator even more breathing room in his lane of the Republican primary.



He said he would join a policy thinktank and called for a focus on economic growth and “specific solutions”.



Jindal declined to make an endorsement of an erstwhile rival. “I trust the American voters to select our next nominee,” he said.



Jindal criticized Barack Obama for what he said was a failure to take on the Islamic State group.



“We’ve got a president, he’s a community organizer at a time of war. He doesn’t even want to say the words radical Islam.”



Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin and former Governor Rick Perry of Texas previously withdrew from the Republican race.

“I have been blessed with the best family you could ever have,” Jindal said. He said his three children had heard the news. “Their biggest question is still whether they can get a dog.”



Jindal was one of the most fervently conservative candidates in the field. He called for congressional term limits and repeatedly railed against Washington Republicans whom he said did not do enough to oppose Obama. The Louisiana governor also one of the most vocal opponents of Donald Trump in the Republican field. Jindal repeatedly labeled Trump “an egomaniac” and “a carnival act”. The son of Indian immigrants, he also repeatedly referred to his family background in a folksy manner as well as his own personal conversion to Christianity in his youth.

Fellow candidates praised Jindal. Ben Carson said he ran “a campaign he should be proud of”, while South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham wrote that Jindal “has always been a strong voice for the conservative cause”.

Rick Perry called him a “great governor, standup friend, loyal American!!”

Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) Thank you to @BobbyJindal for being a conservative governor and running a campaign he should be proud of. Wishing the Jindal family well.

Jeb Bush (@JebBush) .@BobbyJindal is a good, conservative, policy-focused governor. Am confident he will continue to play an important role in the party

Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) Heidi and I wish Supriya, Bobby, and their family all the best. https://t.co/NnX2debSAJ

Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) Bobby Jindal has always been a strong voice for the conservative cause, served the people of LA well, & I wish him & his family all the best

A former Rhodes scholar who had long been touted as a rising Republican star, Jindal launched his campaign in June with a hidden camera video posted to his campaign’s Facebook. The first Indian American governor in American history, the 44-year-old Jindal is currently finishing his second term as his home state’s chief executive. Before being elected governor, he served for three years in the US House of Representatives.

In a conference call for reporters describing the decision to drop out, Jindal’s top strategist, Curt Anderson, said this was “a bizarre election and he just wasn’t able to break through”. This was echoed by Jindal’s campaign manager, Timmy Teepell, who noted no one would have been able to predict that Donald Trump and Ben Carson, whom he referred to obliquely as “two gentlemen”, would be in first place.

Anderson said that while Jindal had been “thinking about [dropping out] for a few weeks”, he only made the final decision on Monday night. The top strategist said “you know it’s not easy. [Jindal] is a fighter and his instinct is to never give up but you also have to be realistic in politics and look at what your opportunity is and what your chances are and he just decided it just wasn’t going to happen for him this time.”



Two obstacles cited were Jindal’s inability to participate in debate and his campaign’s weak fundraising.

Teepell told reporters that they never imagined Jindal “would be excluded from the debate stage”. He described the Louisiana governor as “incredibly smart and strong debater” and insisted he would have excelled if given the opportunity to participate in a primetime debate.

Fundraising was also a major problem for Jindal’s campaign. As of the last FEC report he only had $261,000 on hand, less than all of his rivals. Anderson conceded that this was a factor and said: “I think it was Dick Gephardt who said presidential campaigns don’t end, they just run out of money.” However, despite this, Teepell insisted that the campaign had no debt.