Dr. Ben Carson has made it official - he's ending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, but he's not getting out of politics.
Carson says his Christian beliefs brought him to the campaign and he will now join a group called "My Faith Votes" to lead its efforts in the coming election.
A spokesman for the group says it is a non-partisan and non-denominational group. Carson once led in early Republican polls but placed fourth in the Iowa caucus and has gathered only eight delegates so far.
The Associated Press reported Friday that Carson raised more money than any other GOP contender.
But an Associated Press review of campaign finance reports shows Carson's campaign is an extreme example of the big-money business of presidential politics. The campaign raised $58 million, but it spent more on fundraising and consultants than on mass media advertising, on-the-ground employees and other things that could have swayed voters.
The consultants who worked for Carson's campaign say the spending was necessary to raise the public profile of a political unknown. But Carson himself, a soft-spoken retired Baltimore neurosurgeon, has wondered aloud whether people were taking advantage of him.
The Associated Press contributed to this story