Republican Scott Jensen dropped out of the race for Minnesota governor on Monday morning.
The physician and former Minnesota state senator posted on social media that he will instead campaign for state auditor.
"We have excellent candidates running for governor, and I am confident that one of my colleagues will be well-positioned to win in November," said Jensen, who ran a disappointing fourth in the most recent straw poll taken during last week's GOP caucuses.
Jensen was the Republican nominee for governor in 2022, and lost when Tim Walz captured his second term.
Like Jensen, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ended his own campaign well before election day.
Jensen said as state auditor, he'll be the person who looks into state government to find out what's working and what's not working.
"I am ready and determined to be the person who opens up the hood," Jensen explained in the video. "And look at what the engine of our government is doing and not doing and fixing."
Jensen was a member of the Minnesota State Senate from 2017 though 2021, when he began his first run at governor in 2022, and lost to Walz.
"I've made a comment, you know, I'm going to run as long as I think I'm the best candidate to win in November," Jensen told carter. "That's not what many people wanted to hear. They wanted to hear that the endorsement was the Holy Grail, and that if I didn't get it, I was out. And I wasn't willing to say that."
Jensen tells WCCO Radio's Adam Carter he won't endorse any of the remaining Republican candidates quite yet.
"I think there are special challenges in the Republican Party today," Jensen explained. "Regarding identity politics, I think people rail against identity politics, and yet in their own personal private way they virtue signal."
Jensen recently finished a distant fourth in a straw poll in Minnesota caucus night, giving him very little hope of making a dent in the Republican primary.
There are still a number of Republicans still in the race, although the now three straw poll results show a pretty clear two-person race at this point, with House Speaker Lisa Demuth and businessman Kendall Qualls leading the way. MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell has been a quite distant third in the race up until this point.
State Rep. Peggy Bennett, former mixed martial arts fighter Brad Kohler, and CEO of Good Sense Foods Patrick Knight also remain in the race.