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HELENA, Mont. — A candidate for Montana’s U.S. House seat with ties to the Ku Klux Klan says he is dropping out of the race because he didn’t have enough support.

John Abarr of Great Falls told The Associated Press early Wednesday he is withdrawing his candidacy because the campaign “wasn’t going anywhere.”

The 41-year-old night auditor at a hotel was a former KKK organizer. At the time of his June announcement he said he believed people would back him as part of a backlash to the nation’s first black president.

But leading Montana Republicans either rebuked or ignored him.

Leading state Republicans have already rallied around Bozeman businessman Steve Daines in 2012 as the popular choice to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, who is running for U.S. Senate.

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