That means his departure will have little near-term impact on reshuffling the field, some strategists say. “You have the hourglass of sand and at the end of the day, there’s only one seat”.

Walker’s move to push further to the right on some policy issues following Trump’s poll rise-earlier this month, the Wisconsin Governor proposed building a wall along the Canadian border-did not seem to ease that newfound difficulty in standing out in front of the Republican base. His verbal missteps – often the result of answering questions on the campaign trail with responses that he was forced to amend and later clarify – had been a topic of concern among his own loyalists. “After a great deal of prayer during the last week, it is clear that it is God’s will for me to step out of the race”.

Those successes were often touted as central to his appeal as a presidential candidate.

Experts saw potential gain for conservative candidates like Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee as well as center-right contenders such as Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Jeb Bush.

During the second GOP debate last week, Walker touted improving the educational system as a preferable alternative to increasing the minimum wage. The more he stumped, the less voters liked him, culminating in a humiliating CNN national poll this week in which he couldn’t manage to register 1 percent.

Walker’s pointed rebuke of Trump gave a strong voice to the fears of a number of Republicans that the GOP is risking alienating large sectors of the country’s electorate – women, immigrants, Hispanics, veterans and Muslims – if Trump continued to vilify or mock them as part of his overtures to disaffected and angry voters.

Stanley S. Hubbard, a top Walker donor, told the Washington Post he donated money to four of Walker’s competitors after the debate.

The New York Times first reported Walker’s plans to drop out.

Already on Monday, Walker’s New Hampshire co-chairman had defected to the campaign of Florida Sen. I know many people are disappointed with Scott’s announcement and I respect what a hard decision it must have been.

Walker’s exit comes 10 days after former Texas Governor Rick Perry became the first Republican to drop out of the 2016 race. Many believe that even though Governor Walker called for other Republican candidates to quit the race, none of the candidates are expected to walk away from the race any time soon. But Rubio was the consensus front-runner to grab up Walker’s support and infrastructure. In the latest national polls Walker fell below one percent in crowded Republican field.

His problems aside, Walker had built up a substantial network of top-flight donors, advisers and supporters.

Like current House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, the former speaker also mentioned Rubio and Fiorina as possible second choices, but neither man was ready to leap to another candidate.