Race over for Santorum

Washington (CNN) — Rick Santorum announced today that he is suspending his Republican presidential campaign after a weekend of “prayer and thought,” effectively ceding the GOP nomination to Mitt Romney.
The former Pennsylvania senator made his announcement following the weekend hospitalization of his three-year-old daughter Isabella.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we made the decision to get into this race around our kitchen table, against all the odds,” Santorum said. “We made a decision over the weekend that while the presidential race for us is over, and I will suspend my campaign effective today, we are not done fighting.”
The development means that Romney is now the certain GOP nominee to take on President Barack Obama in November, as Santorum was his main challenger. While Romney still needs to win several hundred delegates to clinch the nomination, Santorum’s departure from the race leaves his path unhindered.
Santorum had canceled two events earlier today while adding an afternoon event that turned out to be his withdrawal announcement.