Rick Santorum is suspending his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, clearing a path for Mitt Romney to become the nominee.

Santorum made the announcement Tuesday afternoon in his home state of Pennsylvania, two weeks before the GOP primary is set to take place there, and after a weekend which saw his daughter, Bella, hospitalized with pneumonia.

“It did cause us to think,” Santorum said, “about the role that we have as parents.”

“We made a decision to get into this race at our kitchen table, against all the odds,” Santorum continued, “and we made a decision over the weekend that while this presidential race is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign effective today, we are not done fighting.”

He thanked all the people for "what you have given not just me and my family, but a voice" for the people.

Romney congratulated Santorum on his campaign, calling him an "able and worthy competitor."

Santorum made no mention of Romney during his announcement, but Republican sources close to the campaign said Santorum spoke with Romney before the announcement. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul are still challenging Romney for the nomination. Gingrich vowed to stay in the race until the convention to give conservatives "a real choice."

The former Pennsylvania senator said he went further than anyone expected, noting that he won primaries and caucuses in eleven states, and won more counties than all the other candidates combined.

“Over and over again, we were told, forget it, you can’t win,” Santorum recalled, closing his campaign. “We were winning in a very different way.”

With the Associated Press