Daughter's illness makes Santorum pull out of presidential race
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum left the U.S. presidential race on Tuesday, effectively conceding the Republican Party presidential nomination to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, The Voice of America reports.
"We made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race for us is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting," Santorum said at a press conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Tuesday afternoon.
Santorum made the announcement just a day after his daughter Bella was discharged from a hospital where she spent three days being treated for a rare genetic condition known as Trisomy 18. The presidential candidate said her illness made him leave the campaign trail. He said the family is looking forward to spending a lot more time with Bella in the future.
However, he said he plans to continue fighting to ensure that the United States is a "beacon of freedom" around the world.
