Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has announced he will suspend his campaign, effectively dropping out of the race and conceding the Republican nomination to frontrunner Mitt Romney.
Santorum cited his daughter Bella's health as his reason for reconsidering his presidential bid. She suffers from a rare genetic condition, and has been hospitalized twice during the campaign.
"We made a decision over the weekend that, while this presidential race for us is over — for me — and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting," Santorum said in a statement.
Santorum won primaries in 11 states, but after defeats last week in Wisconsin, Maryland and DC, he would have had to take over three-fourths of the remaining delegates to win the nomination.
[wapo.]