Ramaswamy Drops Out Of 2024 Presidential Race After Iowa—Here’s Who Could Pick Up His Supporters

Topline Former biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy ended his long shot presidential bid Monday after a fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses, urging his supporters to instead support former President Donald Trump, whose record breaking win in Iowa appeared to solidify his path to the GOP nomination.

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, with wife Apoorva T Ramaswamy, speaks at his ... [+] caucus night event at the Surety Hotel on January 15, 2024 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Key Facts Ramaswamy dropped out shortly after the first in the nation primary was called for Trump Monday, telling supporters he phoned Trump to offer his support for his candidacy.

Ramaswamy, who poured significant resources into Iowa, including campaigning in all 99 counties, secured 8% of votes Monday, or three delegates, behind former South Carolina Gov. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 21%, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley with 19% and Trump with 51%. Polls show Trump will pick up the bulk of Ramaswamy’s support, as 42% of Ramaswamy supporters nationally said Trump is their second choice, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis of recent polls, followed by 29% who said they would vote for DeSantis instead and 17% for Haley without Ramaswamy in the race.

Ramaswamy’s exit could aid DeSantis’ flailing campaign in New Hampshire, the next state scheduled to host its GOP primary on Jan. 23, where Haley is within 13 points of Trump and DeSantis is in a distant third place, 24 points behind Haley. Without Ramaswamy in the race, 37% of his supporters said they’ll back DeSantis in New Hampshire, according to FiveThirtyEight, compared to 35% who said they’ll get behind Trump and 12% who back Haley.

Big Number 20%. That’s the share of Trump supporters who said they would back Ramaswamy if Trump weren’t in the race, compared to 43% who would support DeSantis and 14% who would support Haley, according to FiveThirtyEight. What To Watch For Ramaswamy is expected to campaign with Trump in New Hampshire on Tuesday.

Key Background Ramaswamy, 38, sought to make inroads with Trump voters by closely aligning with his brash brand of “America First” politics. One of the country’s youngest billionaires thanks to his founding of a successful drug development company, Roiviant Sciences, Ramaswamy invested tens of millions of his own fortune into his campaign.

His controversial commentary on the campaign trail regularly grabbed headlines, including spats with his competitors on the debate stage, comparing Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D Mass.) to “modern grand wizards” of the Ku Klux Klan and participating in a discussion on X with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and self proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate..