Texas senator Ted Cruz is ending his presidential campaign, after losing badly to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in Indiana.
“I said from the beginning I would continue on as long as there was a viable path to victory. Tonight, I’m sorry to say, it appears that path has been foreclosed,” he told supporters. “We gave it everything they’ve got, but the voters chose another path. And so, with a heavy heart … we are suspending our campaign.”
The news comes after a devastating loss for Cruz in the Indiana primary, where the senator came in last with zero delegates, to Donald Trump’s 54 and Ohio governor John Kasich’s three.
Cruz, a favorite among evangelical Christian voters, was Trump’s principal rival—particularly after a pivotal victory in the Republican Iowa caucuses in February. But he trailed the real estate mogul by hundreds of delegates, even after much of the Republican establishment rallied behind him.
Kasich remains in the race, but his chances of stopping Trump are slim indeed. Trump’s Indiana victory leaves him only about 200 delegates shy of clinching the race outright.