Former Vice President Mike Pence ended his presidential campaign on Saturday

Former Vice President Mike Pence ended his presidential campaign on Saturday, withdrawing his bid for the Republican Party's nomination for president, effectively concluding his White House ambitions after attempts to raise funds and gain traction in the polls.

"After much prayer and reflection, I have decided to suspend my presidential campaign effective today," Pence announced at a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas on Saturday. "We always knew this would be a tough fight, but I have no regrets," he said.

Pence becomes the first major candidate to exit the race where his former boss, now a rival, Donald Trump, dominates.

This decision, made more than two months ahead of the Iowa caucuses, where he had staked much of his campaign, spares Pence the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the third Republican primary debate on November 8 in Miami.

But the withdrawal is a blow for a politician who spent years biding his time as Trump's most loyal aide, only to become a pariah in the former president's eyes in the final days of his term, as Trump tried to pressure Pence into overturning the results of the 2020 election and keeping both men in power—something the vice president had no constitutional authority to do.

Though Pence averted a constitutional crisis by rejecting that scheme, he incurred Trump's wrath and the anger of many Trump supporters who believed his lies and still see Pence as a traitor.

Meanwhile, among Trump critics, Pence was seen as an aide who defended the former president at every turn and refused to criticize even his most indefensible actions.

As a result, a majority of U.S. adults, 57%, held a negative view of Pence, with only 28% having a positive view, according to a poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in August.

Throughout his campaign, the former Indiana governor and congressman insisted that while he was well-known to voters, he wasn't "well-known well" and aimed to change that with an aggressive schedule that included numerous stops at Pizza Ranches and diners.

Pence made a bet on Iowa, a state with a large population of white evangelicals and a history of supporting religious and socially conservative candidates like former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Pence campaigned frequently alongside his wife, Karen, a former teacher at a Christian school, and emphasized his hardline positions on issues like abortion, which he opposed even in cases where the pregnancy was nonviable. He repeatedly called on fellow candidates to support a national ban on abortion after 15 weeks and pushed for bans on drugs used as alternatives to surgical procedures.

He tried to openly defy his actions on January 6, 2021, repeatedly explaining to voters that he was doing his constitutional duty that day, fully aware of the political consequences. Allies hoped the strategy would defuse the issue and earn him goodwill from the majority of Republicans who, they believed, didn't agree with Trump's actions.

Still, even in Iowa, Pence struggled to gain traction.

He also had a tough time with donors, despite years of relationships. Pence ended September with just $1.18 million in the bank and $621,000 in debt, according to his most recent campaign finance report. The debt likely grew in the past few weeks, and it appears Pence, who is not a wealthy man, will need years to pay it off.

After filing, people close to Pence told The Associated Press they began to feel he faced a choice: Could staying in the race potentially damage his long-term standing in the party, given Trump's dominant position in the 2024 nomination race. While they said Pence could have held on until Iowa's nominating caucus on January 15 if he wanted, he'll have to think about how that might affect his ability to remain a leading voice in the conservative movement, as he hopes.

Some believed an attack by Hamas on Israel in October, which brought foreign policy to the forefront of the campaign, gave Pence a renewed sense of purpose, given his warnings throughout the campaign against growing isolationism in the Republican Party. Pence argued that he was the most experienced candidate in the race and criticized the "voices of appeasement" within the GOP, arguing they emboldened groups like Hamas.

Pence is expected to stay engaged, in part through Advancing American Freedom, a conservative think tank he founded after leaving office. He sees it as an alternative to Heritage Foundation.