Doug Ose out of the running for California governor

It wasn’t meant to be for Doug Ose.

This morning, the former Republican congressman announced that he won’t be running for the governor of California after all.

Since announcing his run last month, Ose failed to gain traction in the campaign. He was not invited to participate in a number of gubernatorial debates in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In a recent public opinion poll, only 3 percent of likely voters expressed interest in voting for him.

“The reality is there is little appetite among the donor community for doing this,” Ose told Dan Morain of CALmatters. “When people who write $20,000 checks start writing you $1,000 checks, they’re telling you something.”

The announcement should come as good news to the remaining Republican gubernatorial candidates, Travis Allen and John Cox. Ose’s late entry into the race provoked some angst among GOP political observers who worried that a third Republican would split California’s conservative vote in the primaries, allowing two Democrats to advance to the general election in November.