Politics Elections Mike Pence Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race: 'This Is Not My Time' The former vice president announced his decision to suspend his campaign Saturday "after much prayer and deliberation" By Brenton Blanchet Brenton Blanchet Brenton Blanchet is a writer-reporter at PEOPLE. He has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. Brenton's work has previously appeared in Billboard, Pigeons & Planes and Complex. People Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 31, 2023 12:11PM EDT Mike Pence is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. The former vice president, 64, revealed on Saturday at an event held by the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas that he has suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. The politician revealed the news while speaking to an audience and citing the bible, as he ultimately announced that “it’s become clear to me, this is not my time.” “After much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today,” Pence said. “Now I’m leaving this campaign, but let me promise you, I will never leave the fight for conservative values and I will never stop fighting to elect principled Republican leaders to every office in the land, so help me God." After a long pause, Pence added that he has "no regrets" despite facing an "uphill battle" during his campaign. "The only thing harder than coming up short would've been if we never tried at all," the former VP said. "Now to the American people I say, this is not my time, but it's still your time. I urge you to hold fast to what matters most: faith, family and the Constitution of the United States of America." Mike Pence speaks after suspending his campaign for president on Oct. 28. Ethan Miller/Getty Mike Pence Questions Donald Trump's Candidacy After Jan. 6 Indictment Pence previously spent four years in the White House as former president Donald Trump's vice president, and initially filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission for his own campaign back in June. During his campaign, Pence faced competition for the Republican nomination in the likes of tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and of course Trump, 77, whose actions he has recently condemned while campaigning for the nomination. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Drew Angerer/Getty Images Back in August, after Trump was indicted by a federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, Pence spoke on the charges — sharing in a statement that they were an "an important reminder" that "anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be the President of the United States." "I will have more to say about the government's case after reviewing the indictment," Pence continued at the time. "The former president is entitled to the presumption of innocence but with this indictment, his candidacy means more talk about January 6th and more distractions." New Republican Primary Poll Puts Ron DeSantis in Fifth Place, as Long Shot Trump Challengers Get a Boost Pence's decision to suspend his campaign on Saturday comes less than two weeks before the Nov. 8 Republican primary debate in Miami — the third GOP debate and one that he had not yet qualified for, per the Associated Press. FiveThirtyEight's poll tracker, which was last updated on Saturday, had Pence trailing behind four opponents at just 3.8%. In comparison, Trump was sitting at 56.9%.