After losing in Iowa, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul announced Wednesday that he has dropped out of the 2016 Presidential race.
The Republican senator posted a video on Twitter, thanking those who supported him. According to Politico, Paul’s senior staff was notified on Feb. 2, a day after he earned just 5 percent support in the Iowa Caucuses. Paul told his entire staff this morning.
“It's been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House,” Paul said in a statement to the Washington Post. “Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty.”
Paul tried to bring the same libertarian views to the table that earned his father, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul support, but he was never able to build a strong base. Ron Paul’s supporters declined to follow his son because many of his views were considered too mainstream in comparison to his father.
Paul, 53, was first elected to the Senate in 2010 during the rise of the Tea Party movement. Now that he is not running for president, he will focus on running for reelection in Kentucky.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the GOP Iowa Caucuses, beating Donald Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.