Huckabee says he'll stay in presidential race

By Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mike Huckabee vowed on Saturday to stay in the Republican Party's nominating race for the presidential election in November, despite trailing far behind rival John McCain.

"Am I quitting? Let's get that settled right now. No, I'm not," Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and a Baptist preacher, told a conference of conservative activists.

McCain, an Arizona senator, has built an almost insurmountable lead in delegates to the Republican Party's nominating convention before the November 4 election to succeed President George W. Bush, a Republican.

The second-strongest Republican contender, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, dropped out on Thursday after failing to perform well in primary elections in this week's "Super Tuesday" voting.

The Democratic Party's race is far harder to call, with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton nearly tied in the delegates count.

Huckabee, who won five of the 21 states on Super Tuesday, will have a tough task overcoming McCain, who has rolled up more than 700 of the 1,081 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination.

Huckabee said he would continue his campaign at least until McCain captured the decisive number of delegates.

"I know that I won't drop out until at least that happens and then we'll see," he told reporters after his speech.

He denied he was weighing being McCain's vice-presidential running mate.

Huckabee took a veiled swipe at Clinton, noting that in Arkansas, he was "the only person who's ever run against the Clinton political machine and beat it."

Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, preceded Huckabee as Arkansas governor.

Huckabee is in step on issues important to many Republican voters with his opposition to gay marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research, but he has not managed to attract much backing beyond Christian conservatives.

"I stand in this race and I stay in this race not to be a fly in the ointment," he told several hundred enthusiastic members of the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Republicans in the states still to hold nominating contests "deserve more than a coronation, they deserve an election," Huckabee said to applause.

"I know the pundits and I know what they say -- that the math doesn't work out," he said. "Folks, I didn't major in math, I majored in miracles, and I still believe in those too."

(Editing by John O'Callaghan)