Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina is dropping out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, two sources inside his campaign said Wednesday.

Edwards has told top advisers about his decision. It is expected he will announce it in a speech at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday in New Orleans, Louisiana.

An Edwards aide said the candidate was not getting the media attention he needed to get his message out and win delegates, especially with races coming up in 22 states next Tuesday.

Edwards has amassed 26 delegates for the Democratic nomination.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee are in a close race for first in South Carolina, according to exit polls.
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are vying for third place in the pivotal Republican primary.

Results from the GOP primary come just hours after the Nevada caucuses.

Sen. Hillary Clinton won Nevada's Democratic caucuses and Romney claimed victory on the Republican side, according to CNN projections.

Clinton, coming off a disappointing third-place finish in Iowa, rebounded to first place, overcoming rival Sen. Barack Obama in the state's Democratic primary.

The win breathes new life into a Democratic campaign that turns its focus to contests in Nevada and South Carolina -- and could stretch past "Super Tuesday" February 5.

Supporters at Clinton's headquarters chanted "comeback kid" as the results arrived.

Clinton had trailed Obama by 9 points in recent polls. Video Watch what's next for campaigns »

Sen. Barack Obama, bidding to be the first black president in American history, won the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, pushing Sen. Hillary Clinton back to third place in the opening test of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to victory over Mitt Romney.

Obama, 46, told a raucous victory rally his triumph showed that in "big cities and small towns, you came together to say, 'We are one nation, we are one people and our time for change has come.'"

The first contest of the U.S. presidential election campaign comes this week in the midwestern state of Iowa, where Democrats and Republicans will hold caucuses Thursday night. VOA correspondent Paula Wolfson reports, candidates from both major parties are hoping for an early victory.

While the battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has been the recent focus of the Democratic presidential race, the Illinois senator continues to cast a wary eye toward John Edwards, a veteran of Iowa caucus campaigning.

In recent days, Obama and Edwards have traded mild rebukes to differentiate themselves. Still, their strategies fall along the same lines: to become the singular anti-Clinton candidate, win over undecided Democrats and become the "second choice" among those backing others who won't get enough support on caucus night.

Dozens of donors are nearing the $108,200 cap on federal campaign contributions for the 2008 elections in a sign of the record-breaking cost of the White House race, an analysis conducted for USA TODAY shows.

A total of 113 people have donated at least two-thirds of the amount they can give legally to all federal candidates, parties and political action committees with a year to go in what will be the most expensive presidential race, according to research by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton has pulled ahead of rival Barack Obama at the bank as well as in the polls and both continue to crush Republicans in the money race.

Clinton holds nearly $35 million three months before the voting starts, to Obama's $32 million.

The Republican money leader, Rudy Giuliani, reported $11.6 million in the bank for the primaries.

Clinton, who had trailed Obama in fundraising and in money in the bank at the end of June, edged past him with an aggressive third quarter of fundraising.

CLINTON RIVALS turn to Iowa, where New York senator isn't runaway leader for Democratic nomination.

"Iowa is the closest thing we're going to get to a fair fight -- and it's a six-man cage match," says Biden aide Larry Rasky. Biden trails badly, but Rasky says he is heartened by big crowds for Clinton and Obama because they prevent the personal interactions Iowans demand.

Also encouraging to dark horses: Obama's $3 million in Iowa TV ads last month didn't boost his poll numbers, and his numbers in New Hampshire flag.