Huntsman drops out of race, endorses Romney 16 Jan 2012 Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman on Monday formally suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and threw his support behind Mitt Romney, calling him the candidate best poised to beat President Obama in November. “I believe it is now time for our party to unite around the candidate best equipped to defeat Barack Obama,” Huntsman said from Myrtle Beach, S.C. “Despite our differences and the space between us on some of the issues, I believe that candidate is Mitt Romney.”