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Carson says he is 'leaving the campaign trail'

Posted at 5:41 PM, Mar 04, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-05 17:08:06-05

Dr. Ben Carson says he is "leaving the campaign trail." The announcement came days after the Republican presidential candidate announced he would not take part in last night's GOP debate in Detroit.

Carson, a Detroit native, had not won any primary or caucus. Earlier in the week, he said he did not see a political path forward for his campaign.

Carson made his announcement official at Friday's Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

His campaign failed to gain traction after briefly leading in the national polling in November.

Through Super Tuesday, Carson had only received about 6 percent of the vote, and eight delegates. Carson's best performance was in Alaska  where he received 11 percent of the vote, good enough for a fourth-place finish.

Carson's departure leaves the GOP race with four remaining candidates. Businessman Donald Trump leads all candidates. He is followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is in a distant fourth place.

Michigan voters go to the polls on Tuesday for Republican and Democratic presidential primaries.