George Pataki Drops Out of 2016 Presidential Race

— -- Former New York Governor George Pataki suspended his presidential campaign tonight, he announced in a 2-minute ad airing on several local NBC stations.

"If we’re truly going to make America great again, we need to elect a president that will do three things: confront and defeat radical Islam, shrink the power and size of Washington, and unite us again in our belief in this great country," Pataki said in his announcement.

Pataki appeared on NBC as the result of equal time provisions, allotted to him by the network after Donald Trump appeared on "Saturday Night Live" earlier this year.

“He said it was because of a lack of resources that he terminated the campaign," David Currier, a former State Senator and member of Pataki's steering committee, told ABC News. "He said you gotta be realistic about the lack of resources and where you’re going with this campaign."

Pataki announced his candidacy this past May. "Our system is broken," he said in his announcement video. "Washington has grown too big, too powerful, too expensive and too intrusive. This is exactly what the founding fathers feared."

But he failed to gain traction in the polls, averaging 1 percent. He did not make it onto the main stage for any of the GOP debates, and was eliminated from the Fox Business Network undercard debate.

Financially, Pataki's campaign was struggling, spending more than he was taking in. The most recent financial disclosure showed him raising $134,000, but spending $348,000.

Pataki was Governor of New York from 1995 to 2006, presiding over the state during the 9/11 attacks. The news of his withdrawal was first reported by the Boston Globe.