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