Bush Drops Out of GOP Race

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush dropped out of the 2016 Republican nomination contest this evening following a fourth-place showing in the South Carolina primary. Politico offers the following report:

Jeb Bush drops out of White House race

Jeb Bush, unable to muster enthusiasm for his presidential bid beyond the family network that helped him raise a record $160 million, is suspending his campaign following a disappointing finish in South Carolina.

The decision follows a string of underwhelming primary finishes for the former Florida governor, including in New Hampshire where he invested heavily and bet on a massive ground organization but still finished behind Donald Trump, John Kasich and Ted Cruz.

He also took only 2.8 percent of the vote in Iowa’s first in the nation caucuses, despite having outspent his rivals there, too, and campaigned until the very end. In South Carolina on Saturday night, he was on track to finish a distant fourth. His archrival Trump trounced the field with 34 percent of the vote, while Cruz and Rubio were running in a virtual tie with roughly 22 percent.