WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a video message Sunday announcing the end of his presidential campaign, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he “left it all on the field.” The announcement came after DeSantis placed second behind former President Donald Trump in the Iowa Caucuses, and just ahead of New Hampshire's primary where he was polling behind both Trump and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. 

What You Need To Know

  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ended his presidential run Sunday

  • The decision came after he lost the Iowa Caucuses to former President Donald Trump

  • DeSantis did not stay in the race for Tuesday's New Hampshire primary

“If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome — more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it. But I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory accordingly,” DeSantis said. 

Despite his loss in Iowa, Professor Todd Belt with the George Washington University says DeSantis’ decision to quit so soon was surprising.

“I expected that he was going to be sort of not contesting New Hampshire, but saving everything to try to get a surprise second finish in South Carolina to really embarrass Haley and to try to get some more traction,” Belt said. “I was surprised that his campaign fell apart so quickly. Only one contest, and we’re really down to two people.”

DeSantis made his presidential bid announcement in May over Twitter Spaces, where he had technical issues. George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs Director Peter Loge says during the campaign he remained in the “shadow of Donald Trump.”

“If you’ve got Donald Trump, you know, why do you need Governor DeSantis?” Loge said. “A lot of Republicans like Governor DeSantis. I think he has a lot that the base likes. He’s a governor. He’s been pretty successful as a governor. He’s picking all the right points and making all the right arguments, but he’s in the shadow of somebody who, you know, he’s in the shadow of Donald Trump. And that’s a pretty big shadow.” 

DeSantis placed a large focus of his efforts on seeking to win in Iowa. But, Jeff Roe, a top strategist for the DeSantis aligned super PAC ‘Never Back Down’ resigned ahead of the Iowa Caucuses. Still, experts say at the end of the day, it was DeSantis’ message that did not resonate with GOP primary voters. 

“One can point to the internal dynamics of senior staffers quitting and then going to the Trump campaign, a relative lack of experience — you can point to all of that. But really, his underlying message ‘I’m just like Trump, but without a lot of the chaos’ was just not one that resonated with enough Republican primary voters to matter,” Loge said.

DeSantis is now endorsing Trump for President.