Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim James dropped out of the race Monday, after the results of a recount showed Friday that he had gained no ground on second-place candidate Robert Bentley.

James had been considering a contest to the primary, in which Bradley Byrne came in first but Bentley just squeaked by James for a spot in the July 13 runoff.

“As everyone knows, given the razor thin margin in this race, I had no choice but to push for a recount to assure 125 thousand voters that the first count was tallied correctly,” James said in a statement. “As I said many times, I knew we had to take our time and do it right; and I think we did.”

James thanked his family and supporters for their hard work in the campaign.

Byrne released a statement congratulating James on an “exciting, hard-fought primary campaign.”

“I look forward to facing Robert Bentley in the Republican run-off election on July 13,” Byrne said. “Rep. Bentley and I have different records and different ideas about how to lead this state forward, and I look forward to debating our records and visions for Alabama in the coming weeks.”