Another One Bites the Dust: Asa Hutchinson Withdraws From GOP Primary

On Tuesday, following the Iowa caucuses in which he received an underwhelming 0.2 percent of the vote, Republican Presidential hopeful and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson formally dropped out of the Republican primary contest.

Hutchinson’s exit came a day after he finished sixth in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses, well behind Trump and other top rivals but also behind Ryan Binkley, a pastor who failed to qualify for any of the debates. Hutchinson was the last GOP candidate remaining in the race who was willing to directly take on Trump.
“I congratulate Donald J. Trump for his win last night in Iowa and to the other candidates who competed and garnered delegate support,” Hutchinson said in a statement. “Today, I am suspending my campaign for President and driving back to Arkansas. My message of being a principled Republican with experience and telling the truth about the current front runner did not sell in Iowa.”
Hutchinson’s campaign manager, Alison Williams, said he wasn’t issuing an endorsement at this time.

Governor Hutchinson joins former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy, former Indiana Governor and Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, radio talk-show maven and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder in officially joining the ranks of the also-rans. Following the Iowa vote, and former President Donald Trump's comfortable win therein, the GOP nomination is essentially down to a three-member race, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley still hanging in there.

Interesting: Poll Shows More of Nikki Haley's Iowa Supporters Would Vote for Biden Over Trump

Governor Hutchinson released the following statement:

Here is my statement on the Iowa caucus. pic.twitter.com/uRmlbQtolx
— Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) January 16, 2024

Governor Hutchinson won a total of 191 votes in Iowa out of 110,298 cast, effectively slamming the door on any future prospects for the Governor's campaign. One wonders if the nation is uncomfortable with former Arkansas Governors running for president, although there is, candidly, a vast difference between Governor Hutchinson, both personally and politically, and that other former Arkansas governor.

Long-shot campaigns like Governor Hutchinson's and the others named above are always interesting to analyze afterward. Most of them are the longest of long-shot candidates, and it's worth a little thought to try to figure out why they would enter such a taxing, stressful process with very little hope of winning. Do they hope to have some influence on the narratives in this quadrennial contest? Are they gunning for a Cabinet post or some other such plum political appointment? Maybe an ambassadorship or a federal judicial appointment? Or are they thinking of a comfortable gig as a talking head with one of the cable news networks?

As far as Governor Hutchinson is concerned, none of those apply any longer. He came out of Iowa with no delegates, nothing with which to bargain, and almost no votes. Whatever Governor Hutchinson chooses to do in the next four years, being president (or, probably, vice president) won't be among his options.

This seems appropriate.