Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo plans to drop out of the race during an announcement Thursday afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa, GOP sources close to the campaign have told FOX News. Tancredo, who has aggressively pushed his anti-illegal immigration message throughout the GOP primary race, has not been able to break through in the polls against his better known competitors. He and California Rep. Duncan Hunter typically poll in the single digits behind Texas Rep. Ron Paul in national surveys.
Tancredo would not personally confirm whether he will pull out of the race.
“I will neither confirm nor deny that report,” Tancredo told FOX News.
The five-term Colorado representative already announced in late October that he would not seek reelection to the House of Representatives in 2008. He said at the time that his core issue of illegal immigration has been elevated to national prominence and that he doesn’t need to remain in Congress to promote it.