Republican Duncan Hunter of California fell victim to poor showings in all the early contests and dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination on Saturday.
Hunter, who had backed a border fence and a crackdown on illegal immigration as well as a strong military, chose to withdraw the contest even before the votes in South Carolina were tallied.
He has been repeatedly ranked bottom after other major Republican candidates during primaries in several states.
Hunter said in a statement that the race had been worthwhile despite finishing far out of the running in all of the early contests.
"The failure of our campaign to gain traction is mine and mine alone," Hunter said.
He said he would return to Congress and work on immigration policy. "Over the next year in Congress I will do everything in my power to get that fence built."
Meanwhile, Hunter's rival Senator John McCain of Arizona won South Carolina's Republican primary, according to preliminary results.
With 97 percent of precincts reporting, McCain has won 33 percent of the votes, beating former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who grabbed 30 percent of the votes.
Huckabee has conceded his defeat and congratulated McCain.
Former Senator of Tennessee Fred Thompson and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney came in 3rd and 4th places, with 16 percent and 15 percent of votes each.
Source:Xinhua
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