Jon Huntsman has withdrawn his GOP candidacy, announcing his decision Monday in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

While most of the other candidates who dropped out ahead of Huntsman have not offered an endorsement, Huntsman threw his support at Mitt Romney, who he said had the best chance of all the Republicans to beat President Obama.

It was a tune Huntsman had not always sung during the campaign, calling Romney "unelectable" on the eve of the New Hampshire primary after Romney made remarks about liking "be able to fire people" who provided him bad service.

Huntsman strove to portray himself as a moderate to his opponents' more far-right positions, but the effort failed to catch on in a party still influenced by the tea party. He rarely moved above 1 to 2 percent in national polls.

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