Buckey's campaign began slowly, garnering $31,556 by the end of 2007 compared to Shaheen's $1.2 million, the Valley News reported.
"The series of events made it clear that I wasn't going be able to devote the resources that I needed," Buckey said.
Though Buckey, a professor at Dartmouth Medical School, had decided not to teach this term in order to devote his time to the primary race, he lacked the resources necessary for a successful campaign, he said.
"I was able to cut back on the clinical and research commitments. It just became clear that I needed to personally devote more of my sources and time right to make this successful, and my ability to do that was going down rather than going up," Buckey said.
A former astronaut and member of the Air Force, Buckey decided to join the senate race to address problems that have been neglected by the government, he said. His campaign focused on the nation's need to adjust energy policies to bolster national security and the economy, according to the campaign's website.
"The economy was changing," Buckey said. "We needed to be investing in science and technology because that's an important part of our economic base. We had to reform health care and address issues of economic fairness to make sure it works for everyone."
His experience in medicine and engineering would have served him well in Congress, Buckey said. He claims there are roughly only eight members of Congress with science or engineering backgrounds.
"That's pretty low considering how important science and technology is to our economy and to our future," he said.
Buckey emphasized the importance of having professionals conduct research and publish papers in Congress.
"Those are the voices that really need to be in our representative bodies, especially when you see the scientific and technical challenges we're facing," Buckey said. "I think that's important to have."
With Buckey's withdrawal from the race, Shaheen and the Democratic Party will focus on defeating Sununu in November. Fifty-four percent of voters said they support Shaheen, while 37 percent said they support Sununu, according to a new Granite State Poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has given priority to winning the New Hampshire race because it must gain nine Senate seats in order to have enough of a majority to override a filibuster.
Sununu and Shaheen also faced each other in the 2002 Senate race, which Sununu won by four percentage points. Buckey will endorse Shaheen in November, according to the Valley News.
