Roemer ends presidential run

Former Gov. Buddy Roemer today announced he is ending his campaign for presidency of the United States, citing a lack of ballot access in all 50 states as a primary difficulty for his candidacy. Roemer was never a part of the 23 nationally televised GOP debates. Nevertheless, he claims receiving “7% of the popular vote in a national poll conducted a few weeks ago,” without citing the poll. Over the last 17 months, Roemer says he accepted no political contribution that was more than $100, including no political action committee money, Super PAC money and corporate money. “We ran like we would serve—Free to Lead,” Roemer says in letter on his website, announcing the end of his campaign. “To protect that freedom, we fully disclosed every contribution.” Roemer, who served as governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992, spent much of his campaign decrying the big money from special interest groups and corporations that pours into presidential and congressional campaigns, saying that 98% of the electorate does not donate a penny. “If we are to become a practicing republic again, we must end the addiction to special interest money,” Roemer says. He goes on to say he will lobby for campaign reform in the future. You can read Roemer’s complete letter here.