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Posted: March 4, 2008 9:50 PM
Huckabee Concedes GOP Race after McCain Hits 1,191 Mark
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Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee ended his presidential bid on Tuesday night after his rival Arizona Sen. John McCain’s projected victories in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont pushed him over the 1,191-delegate mark to secure the GOP nomination.

“It looks pretty apparent tonight that he will in fact achieve 1,191 delegates to become the nominee of our party,” Huckabee told a crowd of supporters in Irving, Texas. Heading into Tuesday night, Huckabee had only 257 delegates to McCain’s 1,014.

Huckabee spoke shortly after most media outlets declared McCain the winner. Huckabee said he called McCain to congratulate him, calling the nominee an “honorable man.” The former governor also said he is committed to do everything possible to “unite the party and to unite the country.”

“It’s now important that we turn our attention — not to what could have been or what we wanted to have been — but what now must be, and that is a united party.”

He added that he was grateful that he and McCain conducted their campaigns with honor.
Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, launched a surprisingly strong bid for the nomination after winning the Iowa caucuses in early January and gaining the support of Christian conservatives that propelled him to a string of wins in the South.