Former Mitch Daniels chief of staff Eric Holcomb has quit the race for U.S. Senate.
Holcomb formally pulled out of the race half an hour before the noon deadline to get his name off the May primary ballot.
His withdrawal leaves Republicans with a two-way race between Congressmen Marlin Stutzman (R-3rd) and Todd Young (R-9th).
Holcomb was the first candidate to enter the race -- he jumped in days after Dan Coats announced his retirement last March.
But Stutzman and Young both raised more than three times as much money as Holcomb, who barely topped a half-million dollars in donations. The two congressmen held even bigger advantages over Holcomb in cash on hand.
Holcomb's exit comes just 12 days after he formally filed the paperwork to enter the race, and two days after a debate in Rushville.
In a straw poll of 54 Republican precinct leaders after that forum, Holcomb finished third with 28-percent, seven votes behind Stutzman's first-place finish.
Holcomb is the second candidate to leave the Senate race. Democrat John Dickerson, the former director of Arc of Indiana, abandoned his bid last month, leaving former Congressman Baron Hill (D-9th) unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
