Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost ended his campaign for governor on Friday, leaving Vivek Ramaswamy with an easier path to the Republican primary.
Yost worked his way up from Delaware County elected office to state auditor and attorney general.
His campaign trail became much more difficult when Ramaswamy was endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Yost’s announcement came one week after the Ohio Republican Party endorsed Ramaswamy despite efforts by the attorney general and Governor Mike DeWine to stop the vote.
In a letter to supporters, Yost conceded that “a steep climb to the nomination for governor has become a vertical cliff.”
Ramaswamy officially announced his bid to replace term-limited DeWine on February 24 and was quickly backed by Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.