Buddy Roemer Leaves GOP Presidential Primary, Will Try To Run As An Independent

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Former Louisiana Gov. Charles "Buddy" Roemer is abandoning his bid to win the Republican presidential nomination and will instead try to run as an independent candidate.

Roemer says he will make a formal announcement Thursday in California.

The 68-year-old former congressman who barely registered in polling on the GOP race said he will try to become the nominee of Americans Elect. The nonpartisan group is pushing for a third-party candidate to run against President Barack Obama and the eventual GOP nominee.

Roemer also plans to seek the nomination of the Reform Party.

Roemer served one-term as Louisiana governor from 1988 to 1992. He had built his presidential campaign on lambasting special interests in politics. He limited campaign donations to $100 and refused money from political action committees.

As a Republican, the former Louisiana governor was mostly seen as a novelty candidate for his lively Twitter feed and campaign stops like visiting Occupy DC.

Earlier on HuffPost:

 

 

Comments

[Eliosfyre]

12:06 AM on 02/25/2012

To those of you saying you've never heard of him..there is a reason. He is the only candidate running who says no to PAC money and is refusing special interest groups. He only allows small donations from individuals to his campaign. Therefore, due to his integrity, The GOP have kept him out of the debates. It's a crying shame too, the man is one of the good guys. He makes a lot of sense, and though I do not agree with all of his policies, I feel like he is just moderate enough to really bring both sides to the table. I think it is great he is running as an Independent...too bad he didn't do it sooner. And to the guy below who pointed out that the debates started months ago, since he was kept out, he still did live feeds answering the same questions during the debates. Hopefully now people will start hearing about him. Those that do tend to really like him and what he has to say.

[katetrun]

01:45 PM on 02/23/2012

Buddy WHO?? Never even knew he was running! Poor guy doesn't even have a chance & is just wasting his money... better luck next time?

[seyj5]

09:14 AM on 02/23/2012

Some people will do anything for attention.

[billyfitz]

08:51 AM on 02/23/2012

He's got my vote.

[anthonygolfbones]

08:37 AM on 02/23/2012

He must of just got out of prison, some one needs to tell him the debates started months ago.

[Eliosfyre]

12:08 AM on 02/25/2012

He has been blocked from all of the debates. However, he runs live feed during the scheduled debates to answer the questions along with the other candidates for his followers to read. It's a shame they had blocked him...most people that listen to Mr. Roemer like what he has to say.

[manmi1]

08:15 AM on 02/23/2012

How can this be considered news to anyone but his family? No one knows who he is, and even fewer knew he was "running" for president.

[invmartyc]

07:26 AM on 02/23/2012

I think Colbert got more press than this guy!

[johanbachura]

06:21 PM on 02/23/2012

He was on Colbert and he made more sense than any of th other yahoos running for prsident with an "r".

[invmartyc]

06:30 PM on 02/23/2012

I don't remember that but I trust that you are right.

The present four have not done much to set the bar very high!

[mscddspc]

07:25 AM on 02/23/2012

Who is he?

[Neil Reilly]

07:24 AM on 02/23/2012

Who??????????????????????????????????/

[doonooch]

07:15 AM on 02/23/2012

never heard of him, but maybe its a smart idea to disassociate oneself from the party of clowns.

[Colby75]

07:08 AM on 02/23/2012

Never even heard of the guy!

[djaikins]

06:45 AM on 02/23/2012

Probably the only republican candidate who made any sense has left the race. What does that tell us about what is left?

[David Rydberg]

07:39 AM on 02/23/2012

and this comment you made is coming from an ass.just like obama.

[djaikins]

08:17 AM on 02/23/2012

My, My, aren't we snarkey this morning. Is that all you have is insults? Try a rational thought now and then. You might find it refreshing.

[Eliosfyre]

12:10 AM on 02/25/2012

Actually, he was the only candidate they had that truly made sense. If they would have allowed him to debate, people would have really gotten behind him. Even my dad, who is a hardcore Republican, feels like the GOP doesn't really want to win and that they have chosen very weak front runners.

[Peter Burbank]

06:29 AM on 02/23/2012

That-a-Boy Buddy! Quitters Never Win! and Winners Never Quit! When the Going Gets Tough! The Tough Get Going! ... Can someone pass this message on to Newt, Ron, Michelle and of course Donald!

[clematisvine]

06:20 AM on 02/23/2012

Who?

[wakohnen]

05:04 AM on 02/23/2012

He limited campaign donations to $100 and refused money from political action committees.

If only ALL of the canidates would do this we would see what they are really made of.

[anthonygolfbones]

08:42 AM on 02/23/2012

As governor of Louisiana he probably has tons of relief money in his campaign fund, it doesn't look like much was used on Louisiana. Most of the poor people are still without homes.

[wakohnen]

08:48 AM on 02/23/2012

Former Louisiana Gov. Charles "Buddy" Roemer ....