Former Vice President of the United States Mike Pence has dropped out of the race to become the 2024 Republican Party presidential nominee.

He is the first major Republican hopeful to end a bid for the nomination.

Pence spoke at a conference of Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday.

Pence told the gathering that "Traveling across the country over the past six months, I came here to say it's become clear to me, this is not my time. So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign."

Pence served under Donald Trump when he was president.
He joined the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination in June this year, saying that the White House and the Republican party will require new leadership.

He campaigned on his achievements as a vice president while trying to keep his distance from Trump. He publicly criticized the former President over the January Capitol riot in 2021.

But Pence failed to gather support among Republican voters.

A poll by political information site Real Clear Politics shows as of October 24 Trump had 59.1 percent support while Pence garnered just 3.5 percent on average.

Trump leads among Republican hopefuls to win the Republican nomination, and President Joe Biden is the leader on the Democratic side.