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LEAD: US republican hopeful drops out of nomination race
Jan 16, 2012, 5:02 GMT
Washington - Former state governor and diplomat Jon Huntsman will drop out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination to support current favourite Mitt Romney, reports said late Sunday.
Huntsman, 51, planned to make the announcement Monday, several US news sources quoted a campaign adviser as saying.
'The governor and his family, at this point in the race, decided it was time for Republicans to rally around a candidate who could beat Barack Obama and turn around the economy,' campaign manager Matt David told reporters.
'That candidate is Governor Mitt Romney,' he said.
Huntsman, who was governor of Utah from 2005-09 and ambassador to China during 2009-11, placed third in last week's New Hampshire primary with 17 per cent of the votes, behind Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
The coffers and morale of Huntsman's campaign team were running low after the New Hampshire result, news reports said.
Analysts consider Romney to be in a strong position for the next primaries in the southern states of South Carolina and Florida on January 21 and 31, respectively.
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