Rick Santorum is out. Mitt Romney will be the Republican presidential nominee.

Citing the difficult time his family has had in recent days dealing with the health problems of daughter Bella, and finally yielding to polls and delegate math, Santorum pulled out of the race.

“This presidential race is over, for me. We will suspend our campaign effective today,” he said during a speech in Gettysburg.

Though he called the move a suspension (which allows the campaign to continue raising money to pay back debt), his bid is over.

Santorum did not mention Romney during his remarks, but advisers said that the two would meet in the coming days to discuss a possible endorsement.

A major contributing factor to the decision was the likelihood that Santorum would lose Pennsylvania. Four polls showed a single digit race in PA (Franklin & Marshall, Mercyhurst, Rasmussen and Quinnipiac), and a fifth (Public Policy Polling) showed Mitt Romney with a lead.

Romney had been the advantage. His campaign had reserved nearly $3 million in television time in Pennsylvania. Luckily for him and unlucky for Pa. TV stations, most of that money is not yet out the door.

In a statement, Romney congratulated Santorum for his campaign.

“Senator Santorum is an able and worthy competitor, and I congratulate him on the campaign he ran. He has proven himself to be an important voice in our party and in the nation.  We both recognize that what is most important is putting the failures of the last three years behind us and setting America back on the path to prosperity,” he said.

According to Politico, Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Rob Gleason said Santorum informed him of his plans to exit the race, and told POLITICO Pennsylvanians are “proud of the good work that he did as a candidate. He did a great credit to himself and our party.”

In a statement, Gleason said, “As one of Pennsylvania’s favorite sons, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania congratulates Senator Santorum on another fine campaign.  Starting in the single digits nationally, just the way he did in 1990 in his first run for Congress, and then exploding onto the national scene was nothing new for those of us who have known him over the years.  It was just Rick being Rick.  After winning multiple Republican Primaries and Caucuses, the nation has had a chance to witness his passion for America firsthand.”