Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential campaign late as mid-December). Giuliani said on January 8 that Florida was "real important" to the campaign, and that they would put "almost everything" into Florida. Several senior staffers in the campaign went without their January paychecks in order to assure that more funds could be spent in the state. A January 14, 2008 poll from Rasmussen Reports showed that Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Mitt Romney were all tied within the margin of error On January 23, 2008, the "Miami-Herald" reported that Giuliani's Florida support was in "freefall" as polls showed him fighting Huckabee (who was only campaigning part-time
Rudy Giuliani in other early contests, when Giuliani's staff went without pay in order to focus all efforts on the crucial late January Florida Republican primary. The shift of the electorate's focus from national security to the state of the economy also hurt Giuliani, as did the resurgence of McCain's similarly themed campaign. On January 29, 2008, Giuliani finished a distant third in the Florida result with 15 percent of the vote, trailing McCain and Romney. Facing declining polls and lost leads in the upcoming large Super Tuesday states, including that of his home New York, Giuliani withdrew from the race on