Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich made it official on Wednesday and announced he was suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

"Finally, I have to thank the voters of South Carolina — and apologize to them. We will have broken their tradition of always picking the nominee," Gingrich said during his remarks. "This will make me feel slightly guilty every time we drift through South Carolina. But they were tremendous. They were welcoming. They were enthusiastic. The size of the victory was historic. And Callista and I both will always remember South Carolina — and I suspect our whole family will always remember South Carolina — because it was a tremendous, tremendous experience."

Gingrich made the announcement at a press conference in Arlington, Va.

He deemed the campaign "a truly wild ride," saying, "I could never have predicted either the low points or the high points," reported a Clarendon-Courthouse-Rosslyn Patch article.

Gingrich, who won South Carolina's primary in January, hasn't been able to sustain that same momentum.

It was the Palmetto State's contest, Gingrich had said for months prior, that would put him in line for the GOP nomination.

Reports of Gingrich's departure from the race began to surface last month. Gingrich has won only one state, his home state of Georgia, since the South Carolina primary.

By suspending his campaign, Gingrich can continue to raise money to pay down the millions of dollars he has accrued in campaign debt.