Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s reported decision to drop out of the Republican presidential primary shocked at least one rival.
“Holy cow,” Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) replied when he learned that Walker plans to end his bid for the White House. As recently as April, a Cruz ally was predicting that Walker would make a strong bid in the Texas primary. Walker led the field there in February.
The New York Times reports that Walker will make the announcement at a 6 p.m. news conference in Madison, Wics. “The short answer is money,” a Walker ally said explaining the decision. “He’s made a decision not to limp into Iowa.”
The Washington Post reported last week that Walker’s donors were getting nervous and wanted him to shake up his campaign staff. “Many backers have directed their ire at campaign manager Rick Wiley, who some Walker supporters believe expanded the staff too quickly and has failed to calibrate spending during the summer fundraising season,” according to the report. “A recent count put the number of full-time Walker campaign staff at around 90, and there have been no cutbacks in salaries as there were earlier this summer in former Florida governor Jeb Bush’s operation.”
— Joel Gehrke is a political reporter for National Review.