Ted Cruz exits US presidential race, leaves himself a path forward

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz drops out of the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination as his wife Heidi looks on during his Indiana primary night rally in Indianapolis. (Photo: Reuters)

Indianapolis: U.S. Republican Ted Cruz carefully left the door open to a future run for president on Tuesday after a campaign that outlasted a long list of rivals but could not overcome the anti-establishment appeal of Donald Trump.

Cruz, who still holds his U.S. Senate seat from Texas for another two years before facing re-election in 2018, told supporters in Indiana where he lost badly in the state's primary, that his campaign was suspended but that his role in the future of the party was not over.