Republican US presidential hopeful drops out for 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican presidential hopeful Jim Gilmore gave up his bid for the White House yesterday.
 
"I am today withdrawing my candidacy for the Republican nomination for president," Gilmore, a former governor for the Southern state of Virginia said in a statement.

"It has become apparent to me that the combination of my late start and the front-loaded nature of the primary schedule have made it impractical to continue to pursue this path towards further public service," the conservative lawmaker said.

Since announcing his candidacy at the start of the year, Gilmore had raised only 381,000 dollars for his campaign, compared with the staggering 34 million and 27 million for fellow Republican hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rudolph Giuliani, respectively.

Gilmore's pull-out leaves nine candidates for the Republican nomination, which will be determined in a series of state-wide elections starting in January 2008.