Republican Sen. Rand Paul decided to suspend his run in the Republican presidential primary race and will instead focus on getting re-elected for a second term as a U.S. senator in Kentucky.

Paul announced Wednesday that he is ending his 2016 hopes for the White House days after he earned only one delegate and just 4.5 percent of support in the Iowa Caucus Monday night.

"It's been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to fight for the cause of Liberty," the libertarian-minded senator said in a statement, according to Politico.

"Across the country thousands upon thousands of young people flocked to our message of limited government, privacy, criminal justice reform and a reasonable foreign policy. Brushfires of Liberty were ignited, and those will carry on, as will I."

According to sources close to Paul's camp, it became increasingly clear that the senator did not have a viable path to winning the Republican nomination while fund-raising was becoming extremely difficult, reports CNN.

Meanwhile, polls show Paul, the son of former Texas representative and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, was struggling to gain traction in New Hampshire in the days leading up to the state's primary. Some polls show him currently ranking in ninth place in the Granite State. On the other hand, his father won 23 percent of the vote in New Hampshire back in 2012.

Another insider close to Paul's campaign in New Hampshire told ABC News that some "some of the staff found out yesterday" that Paul was ending his bid, while "the rest found out this morning. Obviously people here at the office are disappointed, but we think his message will continue to resonate with the freedom movement in the Republican Party."

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