A popular Republican Governor is leaving the Republican presidential race after failing to get traction.
Doug Burgum of North Dakota announced his decision, saying the Republican National Committee’s “clubhouse debate requirements are nationalizing the primary process and taking the power of democracy away from the engaged, thoughtful citizens of Iowa and New Hampshire.”
Burgum was an afterthought in the second national debate, was excluded from the third last month, and wasn’t going to make the stage for this week’s fourth and final candidate showdown in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. So his withdrawal from the race is more a formality than a race changer in 49 of the 50 states.
In North Dakota, though, it’s a slightly different story.
In last month’s “North Dakota Poll,” Burgum boasted 12% support in his home state Primary.
While that put him 42 points behind Trump’s 54%, that remnant of Burgum backers has to go somewhere, and it could (at least theoretically) go toward Florida’s Ron DeSantis, who had 14% support in the same survey.
Meanwhile, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is slightly further back, with 10% and potentially positioned to grab support from Burgumites.
In an editorial ahead of the third debate in the Jamestown Sun, the North Dakota Governor justified staying in the race. He contended “pundits and political insiders want to artificially narrow the field two months before the voting starts by nationalizing what is a meant to be a state-by-state, voter-driven primary process.”
The op-ed suggested Burgum felt the need to justify his run for higher office at the expense of his official duties. Looking back, it was clear the end was near long before now.
North Dakota’s caucuses are March 4, and the state’s 29 delegates will be doled out to the winner.
The post Doug Burgum drops 2024 bid. Can Ron DeSantis capitalize in North Dakota? appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..