Just six Republican candidates remain from an original field of 17.
WASHINGTON -- Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, who rarely registered in opinion polls, became the latest Republican to drop out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
His announcement Friday leaves just six of the original 17 candidates running for the GOP nod: businessman Donald Trump, U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Gilmore was the third candidate to drop out this week, following Gov. Chris Christie and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina.
Gilmore, who received less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the vote in New Hampshire and finished behind "other" in Iowa, never gained traction for his campaign. He often failed to meet the 1 percent threshold in opinion polls to sit at the kids' table at the debates and never received enough support to be on the main stage.
"My campaign was intended to offer the gubernatorial experience with the track record of a true conservative, experienced in national security, to unite the party." Gilmore said. "My goal was to focus on the importance of this election as a real turning point, and to emphasize the dangers of continuing on a road that will further undermine America's economy and weaken our national security."
Despite being the only military veteran on the Republican side, Gilmore largely was ignored even when the conversation turned to national security following the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook