Congressman Ron Paul ended his run for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday but will continue to pick up delegates so as to give himself a larger say in the party convention later.
"We will no longer spend resources campaigning in primaries in states that have not yet
voted," Paul said in a statement, adding, "We will continue to take leadership positions, win delegates."
This leaves only Mitt Romney in contention for the Republican ticket, which he has effectively been since the exit of rivals Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.
Paul had remained mostly last of the four in the primaries, but held out the longest, when no one gave him the slimmest chance of edging out Romney.
When asked if this is it, Paul's campaign manager Jesse Benton said, "Absolutely not. We are focusing on winning delegates and party leadership positions."
Some analysts say Paul might be trying to set himself up for another run, perhaps in 2016, or preparing the grounds for his son Senator Rand Paul.
Ron Paul commands a sizable constituency of Republicans with his libertarian agenda of less government at home and curtailed engagements abroad.