今年2月宣布参选的罗德岛州克兰斯顿市前市长史蒂夫·拉菲(Steve Laffey)将退出2024年共和党总统候选人提名的角逐。
“我喜欢被追踪。我喜欢与人交往，”他告诉ABC新闻。"我因未能跨越鸿沟而沮丧。"
拉菲从未在任何全国性民调中取得突破，也没有爆发的时刻让他受到潜在选民的关注，但他没有资格参加辩论。他认为他的低知名度是造成这种情况的部分原因。
共和党2024年总统候选人史蒂夫·拉菲于2023年3月17日抵达罗德岛克兰斯顿的一家当地电视台接受采访。
埃德·琼斯/法新社通过盖蒂图片，文件
在…后面 ;落后于迈阿密市长弗朗西斯·苏亚雷斯他是第二个有望退出的共和党总统候选人。但与苏亚雷斯不同，拉菲决定退出，除了经济原因，他不再相信他的政党的信息。
“我没有办法面无表情地告诉人们，‘现在是10月份，我该如何离开新罕布什尔州，继续前进?’但与此同时，我告诉人们共和党已经死了，”他说。
拉菲说，他计划去市政厅登记为无党派人士。
“我对我的政党的某些事情感到非常非常不安。我将离开党，”他说。
作为一名终身的共和党人，他在鲍登大学上学时就开始组织保守派活动，他说这个决定不是轻易做出的。拉菲将他的政党的谬误归咎于前总统唐纳德·特朗普，坚持认为他应该被关进监狱。
“他是一个越来越强大的专制人物，”拉菲告诉美国广播公司新闻。
特朗普在所有全国和州级民调中都是领先的候选人。据报道，尽管他面临91项指控，但特朗普对该党拥有其他候选人似乎无法撼动的影响力，在初选中领先40个百分点三十五点八的平均值.
拉菲认为，像共和党人马特·盖兹这样的国会议员是特朗普深远影响的直接结果。拉菲说，眼睁睁地看着前议长凯文·麦卡锡被赶出众议院，这是“无法忍受的”。
他告诉美国广播公司新闻，他对共和党“没有希望”——除了他自己的候选人资格，也就是说。
根据拉菲提交给联邦外汇委员会的文件，第二季度末，他仅筹集了18，589.04美元，手头有106，484.95美元现金。他告诉ABC新闻，在他退学后，他将结清所有未支付的账单，并捐出剩下的钱，他估计只有几千美元。
除了花一个月的时间和家人一起旅行，他还没有计划过野外生活。
“还有比看《夏威夷五比零》(Hawaii Five-0)原版更糟糕的事情，在周五晚上吃着Breyers冰淇淋，”拉菲开玩笑地说。“你还没有从我这里听到最后的消息。至少目前不会是共和党总统候选人，也不会是共和党人。”
早在7月，美国广播公司新闻来到他在科罗拉多州柯林斯堡的“农场”采访长期候选人。尽管困难重重，拉菲总是充满希望，他评论说，他不明白人们怎么能舒服地“旁观”。对他来说，这是他做大事的最后机会。
虽然他不再有这种感觉，但他说他的下一个项目“仍然存在”
“我仍然认为有很多工作是我可以贡献的。我不知道到底会发生什么，我希望我知道，”他说。
First to ABC: Steve Laffey leaves the 2024 race, reflects on longshot campaign
Steve Laffey, the former mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, who announced his candidacy back in February, is dropping out of the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
"I love being on the trail. I love meeting people," he told ABC News. "I am crestfallen that I wasn't able to cross the chasm."
Laffey never broke through in any national polls or had a breakout moment that could have placed him on potential voters' radar, punctuated by his inability to qualify for the debate stage. He considers his low name recognition partially to blame for this.
BehindMiami Mayor Francis Suarez, he is the second Republican presidential hopeful to drop out. But unlike Suarez, Laffey decided to pull out because, aside from financial reasons, he no longer believes in the message of his party.
"I don't have an avenue to tell people with a straight face, 'It's now October -- how do I take off and take New Hampshire and keep going?' But at the same time, I'm telling people the GOP is dead," he said.
Laffey said he plans to go to City Hall and register as an independent.
"I am really really upset about certain things with my party. I will be leaving the party," he said.
A lifelong Republican who began organizing conservative events when he attended Bowdoin University, he said this decision was not made lightly. Laffey places the bulk of the blame for his party's fallacies on former President Donald Trump, insisting that he should be in jail.
"He's an authoritarian figure who's getting stronger," Laffey told ABC News.
Trump is the dominant candidate in all national and statewide polls. Despite the 91 charges he faces -- to which he has pleaded not guilty -- Trump has a hold on the party other candidates seem unable to shake, commanding a 40-point lead in the primary race, according toFiveThirtyEight's average.
Laffey believes congressmen like Republican Matt Gaetz are a direct result of Trump's far-reaching influence. Watching former Speaker Kevin McCarthy get ousted from his role in the House of Representative was too much to "bear," Laffey said.
He told ABC News that he has "no hope" for the Republican Party -- other than his own candidacy, that is.
Laffey raised just $18,589.04 with $106,484.95 cash-on-hand at the end of the second quarter, according to his FEC filing. He told ABC News that after he drops out, he will settle any outstanding bills and donate whatever is left, which he estimates will only be a couple thousand dollars.
Aside from taking a month off to travel with his family, he has no immediate plans for life off of the trail.
"There's worse things than watching 'Hawaii Five-0,' the original one, on a Friday night eating some Breyers ice cream," Laffey jokingly said. "You haven't heard the last from me. It just won't be, at least for now, as a Republican candidate for president, and it won't be as a Republican."
Back in July, ABC News went to his "farmette" in Fort Collins, Colorado, tointerviewthe longshot candidate. Laffey, ever hopeful despite the daunting odds, commented that he didn't understand how people could be comfortable "watching from the sidelines." For him, this was his last shot to do something great.
And while he no longer feels that way, he says his next project is "still out there."
"I still think there's a body of work that I can contribute to. I don't know what it's exactly going to be, I wish I did," he said.
