Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination Thursday in front of the crowd that made him the conservative candidate one year ago.

After long remarks defending his conservative beliefs to the the Conservative Political Action Committee's annual convention, Romney said if he stayed in the race it would only strengthen the Democratic candidates, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.).

Romney added: "I hate to lose."

Romney's departure all but assures that Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) will win the GOP nomination. McCain has a substantial delegate lead over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee’s campaign said Thursday he will continue his quest for the Republican nomination now that Romney is out of the race.

“We know it's an uphill climb, but we knew that a year ago when we announced,” said Kirsten Fedewa, a Huckabee spokeswoman.

She said Huckabee’s campaign planned to “press forward.”

The back of the convention ballroom was abuzz with reports that Romney was leaving the race moments before he addressed the crowd. The former governor suffered losses devastating to his presidential hopes on Super Tuesday.

Romney and his staff said Tuesday night and all through Wednesday that Romney was intent on staying in the race to challenge McCain and Huckabee.

But Wednesday afternoon The Hill reported that Romney planned to meet with his congressional supporters after addressing CPAC.

At CPAC's conference last year, Romney won the straw poll while McCain was booed for skipping the event. The CPAC crowd was dejected when Romney began to hint that he was in fact leaving the race.

With Romney out, McCain is considered by most to be the presumptive frontrunner. That said, Huckabee strung together an impressive slew of Southern victories on Super Tuesday, winning contests in his home state as well as West Virginia, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.