As the New Hampshire primary results flashed on the television screen Tuesday night, Republican presidential hopeful Gary Bauer fought with write-in candidates for last place.
Now, three days later, the 53-year-old conservative candidate will quit the competition, said a source close to Bauer.
Though his campaign headquarters would not confirm or deny the rumor, Bauer will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. today.
The tenacious 5-foot-6-inch candidate has held his ground in Republican debates, relentlessly pushing front-runner Texas Gov. George W. Bush on abortion and the Chinese foreign-relations issue.
Bauer seized every opportunity to talk about what he calls the moral decline of the country and the battle between liberty and virtue. He supports school vouchers, gun rights, posting the Ten Commandments in public schools and preserving the family farm.
Bauer, a native of a blue-collar working-class town in Kentucky, served as undersecretary of education in the Reagan administration and, more recently, headed up the Family Research Council, an influential conservative group based in Washington.
His campaign focused on Christian conservative views imbedded in the Republican party. Bauer specifically opposed gay and lesbian rights, abortion and the Clinton administration’s policy with China.
While Bauer’s messages resonated with many social conservatives in the Iowa caucuses, allowing Bauer to garner 8.5 percent of the Jan. 24 vote, only 1 percent of New Hampshire voters showed Bauer their support.
Bauer is the sixth Republican presidential candidate to drop out of the crowded race. Bush and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., remain the front-runners, while millionaire publisher Steve Forbes and former ambassador Alan Keyes come in third and fourth, respectively, in polls.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Kristin Gustafson covers administration and federal government and welcomes comments at [email protected]. She can also be reached at (612) 627-4070 x3211.