Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum suspended his presidential campaign Tuesday, despite earlier indications that official events would resume after his daughter Bella was allowed to return home from the hospital.
Speaking in his home state at historic Gettysburg, Santorum said he would suspend his campaign after Bella, who was born with life-threatening genetic disorder Trisomy-18, was hospitalized this weekend.
"We made the decision to get into this race at our kitchen table...And we made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race is over for me and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we will not keep fighting," Santorum said during his remarks to press.
The former Senator from Pennsylvania spent most of his speech thanking those who he met on the campaign trail.
"What kept us going were your stories. People across America that we had the privilege to get to know," Santorum said while his wife and children, excluding Bella, stood behind him.
Highlighting his surprising rise to the number two spot in the GOP primary, he added, "Against all odds we won 11 states...We won more counties than every one else in this race combined."
Santorum's exit will nearly guarantee the GOP presidential nomination will go to former Massachusetts Mitt Romney, who leads the delegate count at 661.
This is only around 60 percent of what he needs for an automatic clinch of the nomination. But Romney is now a virtual shoe-in with new number two Newt Gingrich trailing far behind him with 135 delegates.
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