Jeb Bush suspends presidential campaign

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks about healthcare reform at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, in this October 13, 2015 file picture. Jeb Bush said on February 20, 2016 he was suspending his campaign after a disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/Files

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaks to the media at a polling station in Greenville, South Carolina, February 20, 2016. REUTERS/Rainier Ehrhardt

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Jeb Bush (L) is applauded by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R) as he arrives to announce that he is ending his campaign for the White House by suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination at his South Carolina primary night party in Columbia, South Carolina, February 20, 2016. REUTERS/Randall Hill

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has dropped out of the Republican presidential race, he announced tonight in South Carolina.

Bush suffered a distant fourth place finish in today’s South Carolina primary and announced he had suspended his campaign, ending his dream of becoming a third Bush president after his father and brother.

“The people of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken, and I really respect their decision,” an emotional Bush said in Columbia. He finished far out of the running in each of the first three states.

Front-runner Donald Trump, 69, easily defeated Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who were in a close fight for second place and the right to declare themselves the main anti-Trump alternative.