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Lieutenant Governor John Cherry ended his gubernatorial campaign with an announcement at noon.

Veteran Capitol reporter Tim Skubick, via WLNS and MIRS first reported the news, followed by RightMichigan.com overnight.

Cherry's decision comes in the wake of months of internal and public polling that indicates all major Republican candidates beat or come close to beating Governor Jennifer Granholm's heir-apparent.

With Cherry's departure, the Democratic Party primary for governor is wide-open. House Speaker Andy Dillon may run if the Democrats can cope with a nominally pro-life candidate.

Most recently, a Rasmussen poll conducted for Detroit-based WJBK (FOX 2) reported Cherry lost to Congressman Pete Hoekstra by 14 points, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard by 10 points and Attorney General Mike Cox by 6 points.

Cherry's favorable rating of 35 percent is also dismal, while Hoekstra has a 50-26 percent favorable/unfavorable rating.

It's also an early sign that the White House wants to avoid a repeat of 2009 when Republicans picked up the governor mansions in New Jersey and Virginia.

This also means Cherry realized he can't escape his dismissal record as the governor's helpmate for the past seven years; a period of time that saw one family leave Michigan every 12 minutes for a brighter future.

It's a record of failed leadership -- including the Granholm-Cherry-Dillon tax increase of 2007 that put the final nail in the coffin of businesses on main streets across Michigan.

It's a record of a broken state with the worst economy in the country, crumbling infrastructure, struggling schools and cash-strapped local governments.

Most importantly, it's a record that can't be defended.

Michigan has waived goodbye to her future. She has lost too many future doctors, scientists, engineers, job-creators, teachers and innovators because of Granholm and Cherry.