Mike Huckabee said Wednesday that he would leave the race for the Republican presidential nomination if he did not finish within the top three in the Iowa caucuses in February.
"If we can’t come within striking distance of the victory or win it, then I think we recognize that it’s going to be hard to take that onto the other states," the former Arkansas governor told conservative radio talk-show host Simon Conway on WHO-AM in Des Moines.
Huckabee's interview can be heard starting at the 14:32 mark of the audio above.
Iowa holds its caucuses on Feb. 1 in the first test of the 2016 presidential primary season.
Huckabee, who is polling at 3 percent and appeared in the fifth GOP undercard debate last week, won Iowa when he last sought the nomination in 2008.
"Historically, we’ve always said there are three tickets out of Iowa: You have to come in No. 1, 2 or 3," he told Conway. "I think in many ways that’s probably still the case.
"It may be that if you’re a close second or a close third, that’s very good," he added. "If you’re a distant third, then maybe there’s not a way to go on.
"I think you have a good hard look at it after Iowa."