Six months after launching a dark-horse bid for the 2024 Republican presidential campaign, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is suspending his White House bid.
In a statement and video released Monday morning, Burgum emphasized that he and his wife “are deeply grateful for each and every person who supported us with their ideas, prayers, advocacy, encouragement and enthusiasm. Kathryn and I will always remain committed to fighting for the people who make our nation so exceptional.”
Burgum, a multi-millionaire former software company CEO turned two-term North Dakota governor, took aim at the Republican National Committee as he dropped out of the race.
After making the stage at the first two GOP presidential debates, Burgum failed to qualify for the third showdown, and was unlikely to reach the thresholds mandated by the RNC to make the stage at this week’s fourth debate.
The RNC is expected on Monday evening to announce which candidates qualified for the fourth debate.
“The RNC’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 charged in his statement, as he pointed to the first two states to vote in the GOP presidential nominating calendar.
“The RNC’s mission is to win elections. It is not their mission to reduce competition and restrict fresh ideas by ‘narrowing the field’ months before the Iowa caucuses or the first in the nation New Hampshire primary. These arbitrary criteria ensure advantages for candidates from major media markets on the coasts versus America’s Heartland,” he argued. “None of their debate criteria relate to the qualifications related to actually doing the job of the president. This effort to nationalize the primary system is unhealthy for the future of the party, especially for a party that proclaims to value leadership from outside of Washington.”
Even though he poured millions of his own money into his White House bid and campaigned heavily in Iowa and New Hampshire, Burgum – little known outside of North Dakota – was unable to see his poll numbers rise above the single digits.
After failing to make the stage in the third debate, Burgum pledged to stay in the race through the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses and Jan. 23 New Hampshire primary.
