YourPoliticalStuff -

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is ending his presidential campaign today and its said that he will endorse Newt Gingrich. Gingrich will be hoping that this will give is campaign a boost as steers to consolidate conservative support ahead of Saturday’s primary.

Sources confirm Gingrich and Perry met privately yesterday to discuss the exit and endorsement. Perry, however, did not make the decision about exiting the race until this morning.

Perry finished fifth in both Iowa and New Hampshire and, at one at one point said he was going to go back to Texas to reassess his path forward but then headed to South Carolina to campaign instead.

The official announcement is expected to be made at a press conference scheduled for 11:00 a.m. ET today.

Jon Huntsman will drop his presidential bid and endorse Mitt Romney, according to campaign sources.

“He doesn’t want to stand in the way of the person who is going to be the nominee,” a campaign source said.

Huntsman is expected to make the official announcement during a speech in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Monday at 11 a.m. ET. Huntsman, earlier had vowed to stay in the race despite his third-place showing in New Hampshire. He boasted in a speech on primary night Tuesday that he had a “ticket to ride” and that it was “on to South Carolina.”

Huntsman would have faced an uphill battle to deliver a strong performance in South Carolina’s primary election, which will take place next Saturday. Recent polls have shown Huntsman trailing rival contenders competing for the GOP nomination by a wide margin in the conservative state.

A second place finish would have made it much easier to keep the campaign going through South Carolina and into Florida. But it looks like the Huntsman campaign has just run out of steam.