Former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty drops out of GOP presidential race

Hours after finishing third at the Iowa straw poll, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is quitting the GOP presidential race.

Pawlenty told supporters on a conference call Sunday moing that he would formally announce he's withdrawing from the large field on ABC's "This Week".

He was trounced by his co-Minnesota resident Michele Bachmann in the informal Iowa poll, which is normally considered an early test of popularity and traction.

Since entering the race, Pawlenty has been portrayed as a moderate choice in the wide-ranging GOP race. But he was only able to beat fourth-place finisher Rick Santorum in the Iowa poll. He finished with 2,293 votes in the poll, which was a whopping 2,500 behind Bachmann. He also failed to come close to Rep. Ron Paul.

The announcement came only hours after his campaign officially tweeted "Congrats to Rep. Bachmann on her win. Our campaign needed to show progress and we did. I'm eager for the campaign ahead."