Dr. Ben Carson finished last among six Republican candidates in South Carolina's primary on Saturday night, but he's far from done.
Speaking right after the primary results were announced, Carson said he has no intention of leaving the Republican presidential race amid calls for lower-ranked candidates to drop out, Charisma News reported.
Jeb Bush—who finished fourth in the primary behind Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio—appeared to have heeded the call and decided to suspend his campaign.
But Carson said he is not about to follow Bush's footsteps. "While professional politicians have long written off our efforts to return the government to the people, we remain undaunted. We've barely finished the first inning, and there's a lot of game left," he told supporters on Saturday night.
Carson said he looks forward to continuing on to Tuesday night's Nevada Republican Caucus, adding that he plans to share his "Heal, Inspire, and Revive" message with more Americans.
"As more Americans have their say, they will see the true strength of our movement," he said.
After all the South Carolina votes were counted, Trump won 32.5 percent (239,851 votes). Rubio was at second place with 22.5 percent (165,881); Cruz at third with 22.3 percent (164,790); Bush at fourth with 7.8 percent (57,863); John Kasich at fifth with 7.6 percent (56,206) and Carson at sixth and last with 7.2 percent (53,326), according to the New York Times.
Carson's communications director, Larry Ross, noted that after the first three electoral battles—in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina—the retired neurosurgeon now stands as one of only five candidates left of the original 17.
Ross also pointed out that Carson received as many delegates in South Carolina as all other candidates, except the winner, Trump, who cornered most of the delegates to the Republican National Convention later in the year. "That would be zero. But that's not a concern to the Carson team at this point," he said.
"Dr. Carson is humbled by the support and donations from hundreds of thousands across the country who look to him as their voice for change in a system that has left 'We the People' behind," Ross said. "His consistent message of faith, integrity and common sense solutions has resonated with the people; he continues to be viewed more favourably than any other candidate and routinely polls as the most honest and sincere person in the race."
