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Gov. Bill Richardson comes off the campaign trail in time for New Mexico's legislative session. Watch »

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Gov. Bill Richardson looks to supporters on the upper levels of a packed rotunda. Richardson officially announced he was dropping out of the race for the democratic nomination for president Thursday afternoon at the Capitol in Santa Fe.

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SANTA FE — Gov. Bill Richardson ended his presidential campaign today, saying he is proud of the work he accomplished.

What he didn't offer during a brief speech at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe was an endorsement of any of the remaining candidates.

"All I ask is you make your own careful choice," Richardson said, addressing his supporters and a throng of both local and national reporters.

Richardson gave one last piece of advice to the remaining candidates: Avoid personal attacks.

His bid to be the country's first Hispanic president ended following single-digit returns in the Iowa Democratic caucus and the New Hampshire primary, but not without causing change in the political landscape, he said.

"A year ago we were the only campaign calling for the removal of all of our troops within a year," he said of his strong stance on ending the war in Iraq.

Richardson also trumpeted his early charges to remove the No Child Left Behind Act and his push for an aggressive clean-energy policy.

"Now all the remaining candidates have come to our point of view," he said.

Richardson joked that the arduous presidential campaign had included 200 debates, quickly changing that to 24 but said "it felt like 200."

Richardson now returns to what he called "a job that I love."

With the state Legislature convening its annual session Tuesday, he said he planned to work fervently on what he said is his top priority: extending health insurance to every New Mexican.

"So to all New Mexico legislators and citizens who participate in the process, I have a message," he said. "I am back."

Although Richardson did not endorse any remaining Democratic presidential candidates, he did offer his public support to U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, who is running for the U.S. Senate spot to be vacated by retiring longtime GOP Sen. Pete Domenici.

Richardson had portrayed himself as a job applicant whose résumé included stints as a congressman, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, member of President Clinton's Cabinet and popular Western governor.

But contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama garnered the campaign headlines, and Richardson was never able to do better than a distant fourth in the races thus far, falling below 5 percent in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday and coming in with 2 percent in the Iowa caucus last week.

Richardson gave no specific reason today for choosing to drop out of the race now rather than waiting until after the Nevada caucus later this month, which would have shown how much strength he might still possess in the first Western state on the primary circuit.

He also suggested he was leaving the campaign on a positive note.

"As I've always said, I'm the luckiest man I know," he said. "I live in a place called the Land of Enchantment. I have the best job in the world, and I got to run for president of the United States. It doesn't get any better than that."