FACTBOX: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee

(Reuters) - Mike Huckabee withdrew on Tuesday from the Republican Party's nominating race for the U.S. presidential election in November, trailing far behind rival John McCain, who clinched the nomination.

Here are some facts about Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas.

* Huckabee says he was the first male in his family to finish high school. He went on to become a Baptist minister and was governor of Arkansas from 1996-2007.

* Huckabee lost 110 pounds after being diagnosed with Type II diabetes in 2003. He became a marathon runner and wrote a book about healthy living.

* Huckabee, 52, grew up in Hope, Arkansas, the same town where former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was born. As with Clinton, Huckabee is a musician. He plays bass guitar in a band called Capitol Offense.

* He is married and has three grown children.

* On issues important to many conservative Republican voters, he opposes gay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research.

(Writing by Jeff Mason and Paul Grant, editing by David Wiessler)

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/