Updated 8 p.m. ET: NEW YORK -- Jon Huntsman's failed presidential campaign burned through his final few dollars in January before he dropped out of the race, leaving him with debt and IOUs to vendors.

In its January report released to the Federal Election Commission last night, the campaign showed that Huntsman ended his White House bid more than $5 million in debt -- with only $670.17 of cash on hand at the end of January. Huntsman exited the race on Jan. 16 after failing to gain traction following a third-place finish in New Hampshire.

In his final sprint to the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, Huntsman received $400,000 in largely individual contributions. He also loaned himself $50,000 in personal cash on Jan. 4, less than week before the New Hampshire primary. However, it wasn't enough. The Huntsman campaign spent about $560,000 in January.

The former Utah governor-turned-Ford executive board member owes a lot of people money. Most notably he owes Strategic Perceptions -- a media strategy group spearheaded by his campaign's former media adviser Fred Davis -- $355,000.

Many individuals still await paychecks from Huntsman, according to the FEC report.

Landon Parvin, a Republican speechwriter, is owed $27,500. Huntsman's New Hampshire state director, Sarah Crawford Stewart, is expecting $10,000. And about $8,000 is due to three of his top staffers:
-- national spokesman Tim Miller,
-- campaign manager Matt David
-- and advance man Conyers Davis.

Huntsman also owes senior strategist John Weaver's consulting firm TF/Weaver Strategies LLC more than $40,000.

Although Huntsman focused entirely on New Hampshire in the final stages of his campaign, he owes his senior South Carolina advisers Richard Quinn & Associates $55,806 in payments, after initially launching a three-state strategy that also included Florida. Other major debts include Grandslam Finance $241,500, law firm Arent Fox LLP $244,000, polling and consulting firm Ayres McHenry $99,000, Evolve Social Media $164,000, the Ingram Group $110,000 and Pacific Fundraising $81,000. He also owes several young campaign field staffers hundreds of dollars.

Huntsman's former campaign manager Matt David said that the former ambassador to China will repay his debt "aggressively."

"Governor Huntsman will be repaying his debt quickly," David told NBC News. "It's going to be a combination between fundraising and personal funds. We haven't really started the fundraising yet but we have already been moving aggressively on other fronts. Since the end of January and the FEC reporting period, we have paid all of the staff and many of the consultants."

Huntsman will conduct the fundraising via email solicitations and events in the coming weeks that are likely to remind voters that he has backed Mitt Romney. Huntsman has long been considered by many in the Republican party as an ideal secretary of state and a viable candidate for other cabinet level positions.

Following a vacation with his family and time away from the campaign trail, Huntsman has returned to Washington. He now serves on the board of Ford Motor Co. and Huntsman Corp. He also serves as the chairman of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, established by his father, Jon Huntsman Sr., who contributed millions to fund his son's campaign efforts.

Jon Huntsman's father Jon M. Huntsman Sr. gave Our Destiny PAC, the Super PAC supporting his son's candidacy, a total of about $1.9 million of $2.7 million contributed to the PAC since October, according to a new FEC report.

That accounts for 70 percent of all the money the Super PAC received.

Jon M. Huntsman contributed $1,887,039.90 of the entire $2,680,289.90 that the PAC received. His final donation came 13 days before the New Hampshire primary, ahead of the last minute ad buys made on New Hampshire's WMUR.

Jon Huntsman will drop his presidential bid and endorse Mitt Romney, according to campaign sources.

"He doesn't want to stand in the way of the person who is going to be the nominee," a campaign source said.

Huntsman will make the announcement during a speech in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Monday at 11 a.m. ET, spokesman Tim Miller said. Huntsman, who earlier Sunday was endorsed by The State (the largest newspaper in South Carolina), had vowed to stay in the race despite his third-place showing in New Hampshire. He boasted in a speech on primary night Tuesday that he had a "ticket to ride" and that it was "on to South Carolina."

The move to endorse Romney is especially ironic, considering Huntsman up until yesterday, was saying nobody wants a "coronation." Huntsman also delivered his most searing line of the campaign -- at Romney's expense -- in a debate just before the New Hampshire primary. Romney criticized Huntsman's service as ambassador to China under President Obama to which Huntsman replied, "This nation is divided because of attitudes like that."

NBC's Chris Donovan reminds that Huntsman also was harshly critical of Romney on Meet the Press, questioning his consistency. "When there is a question about whether you're running for the White House or running for the waffle house, you've got a real problem with the American people," Huntsman charged. 

He went on to add that he believed because of Romney's inconsistency, he was "unelectable."

"I think when you're on too many sides of the issues of the day, when you don't have that core, when there's that element of trust out there," Huntsman said, "I think that becomes a problem, and I think it makes you unelectable against Barack Obama."

He later went on to say he'd support Romney if he becomes the nominee, "but I think the electability issue is a, is a very real one."

Political reality apparently set in for the former Utah governor. He did not poll well in the Palmetto State, never rising above low single digits. The path for him was not at all clear after New Hampshire, and he acknowledged that his expectations in South Carolina were "very low."

"Gov. Huntsman is proud of the race he ran and his message of restoring trust in Washington," another campaign source said. "But he did not want to stand in the way of the candidate best prepared to beat Barack Obama and turn the economy around. That's Mitt Romney."

Slideshow: Jon Huntsman Jr.

Brian Snyder / Reuters

Businessman, governor and ambassador: a look at Jon Huntsman's public life.

Launch slideshow

Huntsman decided "days ago" -- shortly after the New Hampshire primary -- that he would not go on with his campaign, according to a high-level source close to the campaign.

Senior staffers in South Carolina say the campaign struggled to get Huntsman to campaign in the state following his third-place finish in New Hampshire. They say the campaign had no infrastructure in the state and suffered from lack of resources and communication issues. Not even signs had arrived yet from New Hampshire. Many volunteers had no work assigned to them. 

One senior South Carolina staffer said he was disappointed with what he had been promised by the campaign and was already mulling returning to his previous job.

Senior supporters and consultants were continually frustrated, they said, by a lack of fundraising to support what the national campaign originally promised -- a full-fledged campaign. Senior sources also noted that many fundraisers questions why Huntsman chose not to fund his campaign with his personal wealth. They were frustrated also that more resources were not devoted earlier.

NBC's Garrett Haake reports that Huntsman's campaign advance director was told the candidate was dropping out by a Romney staffer, who had been told by an NBC reporter minutes earlier. According to that Romney staffer, Huntsman campaign staff were at the debate walk through (there's a debate tomorrow night) asking "real" questions and were seemingly fully involved.

Much, if not all, of the Romney campaign team was also unaware -- despite Huntsman endorsing him tomorrow. The campaign's political director, for example, found out via a news alert.

Several members of the Huntsman advance team, who flew down just this morning, were unaware of the decision. Huntsman's regional political director found of the decision via an NBC reporters' Tweet.

Huntsman's YouTube channel -- which used to have lots of anti-Romney videos on it -- has been scrubbed already and none of the anti-Romney videos are there any longer. Also taken down are www.scaredmittless2012.com and 10Kbet.com -- both were created by the Huntsman campaign.

CHARLESTON, SC -- Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman won the endorsement of South Carolina's largest newspaper, The State, on Sunday morning. The announcement comes six days before the Palmetto State primary as Huntsman attempts to quickly gain last- minute traction after spending very little time in the state. Huntsman finished a distant third in the New Hampshire primary after campaigning there for nearly six months straight.

 This is the second time Huntsman has been endorsed by a major newspaper with just days to go before an early state primary this cycle. Shortly before the New Hampshire primary, the Boston Globe also backed the former ambassador to China. Like the Globe, The State praises both Huntsman and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney but stops short of endorsing the front-runner. 

"There are actually two sensible, experienced grownups," The State editorial said, giving a nod to front-runner Romney. "And while Mr. Romney is far more appealing than any of the other choices, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is more principled, has a far more impressive resume and offers a significantly more important message." 

The State, which endorsed Barack Obama and John McCain in the 2008 primary and McCain in that year's general election, said Huntsman stands "heads and shoulders above the field on foreign policy," praised his economic recovery plan and called his terms as Utah governor demonstrative of a "true conservative" record.

The paper also highlighted Huntsman's decision to accept a post as Obama's ambassador to China as a strength. 

"He was a popular and successful governor in an extremely conservative state, well positioned to become a leading 2012 presidential contender, when Mr. Obama asked him to serve in arguably our nation’s most important diplomatic post, U.S. ambassador to China," the editorial said. "It could be political suicide, but he didn’t hesitate. As he told our editorial board, 'When the president asks you to serve, you serve.'" 

This endorsement will certainly boost Huntsman's struggling campaign here in South Carolina but could be a last-minute addition that comes too late. Although Huntsman has been long supported by big names in the state like former state attorney general Henry McMaster and sitting attorney general Alan Wilson, his organization here is struggling. With very little financial resources, a tiny and often frustrated staff, and low name recognition, Huntsman is working hard not to finish last. In the latest state-wide polls, Huntsman remains in the single digits, well behind Romney and Newt Gingrich. 

"I want to beat expectations like we did in New Hampshire. You have to beat expectations to keep moving on," a cautious Huntsman told reporters last night in Hilton Head. "Let's not draw too many conclusions until we get to the 24- or 48-hours mark."

Regardless, the campaign is "so pleased" that the paper chose Huntsman.  "This endorsement continues the momentum our campaign is carrying out of a late surge in New Hampshire," spokesman Tim Miller told NBC News on Sunday morning. 

At the same time, the candidate has long been generally skeptical of the actual impact of endorsements at the voting booth. 

"Endorsements, I think, are way overplayed in politics," Huntsman said last night, before receiving The State's backing. "It still comes down to individuals having to determine for themselves who are best able to lead this country."

NORTH CHARLESTON, SC -- On Wednesday, Jon Huntsman said his bronze-medal finish in the New Hampshire primary gave him a "ticket to ride" to South Carolina, but the former Utah governor is doing his best to keep his Palmetto State expectations low.

Or in his words, "Very low."

"But I think we'll exceed that," Huntsman quickly added.

Huntsman is realistic about his chances in a state to which he has only visited a handful of times with just nine days to go voting day. The former ambassador to China -- who did more than 170 public campaign stops in New Hampshire over a six-month period -- has lots of ground to make up in the Palmetto State.

He clocked in at 1% of support in the a recent CNN poll of likely South Carolina Republican voters.

"We don't have as much time as we did in New Hampshire," Huntsman conceded in Columbia, after speaking to more than 100 students at faculty at the University of South Carolina Moore School of Business. "But we have enough energy and we have enough of a message and enough  of a good team on the ground and that's what I think matters in the  end."
 
Huntsman's team in South Carolina is actually much larger than many realize -- with four field staffers and support from prominent leaders, including South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. Another major supporter, former South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, called Huntsman a "red hot" candidate who he believes can overcome a
massive name ID challenge in a state that is more conservative and evangelical compared to New Hampshire.  .
 
While Huntsman tries to mute expectations, he also remains his usual upbeat self.

“Ladies and gentleman, I am an optimist or I wouldn’t be standing here in front of you,” he said at a town hall meeting in North Charleston on Wednesday night.

However, caution prevails. When asked if he will definitely campaign in Florida -- a state where his campaign headquarters once was located -- a worn-looking Huntsman smiled, "Well, one state at a time. One state at a time."

HAMPSTEAD NH—Over the past week, Jon Huntsman has said he needs a “market moving event” to perform well in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. Today might have been his exactly what he was hoping for.
Throughout the day, the self-ascribed underdog Huntsman has turned an attack by Mitt Romney into an opportunities to hit back, expressing exactly how he feels about the front-runner.

At this morning’s Meet the Press/Facebook debate, Huntsman opened with a reference to an attack from Romney at another GOP debate last night, in which the former Massachusetts governor criticized Huntsman for
serving as Obama’s ambassador to China.

"I was criticized last night by Gov. Romney for putting my country first," Huntsman said this morning on the debate stage in Concord. "He criticized me, while he was out raising money, for serving my country in China, like my two sons who are in the United States Navy … I will always put my country first. I think that's important.”

Later this afternoon, at a coffee shop miles away from the stage, Huntsman was asked if he felt that he “found his voice.”

Clad in his signature bomber jacket emblazoned with “Governor Huntsman” and an American flag, Huntsman did not politely steer away from attacking his rival as he is wont to do. For once, he capitalized on the attack and fired back.

“Let's just be honest about it. I put my country first. Apparently, Mitt Romney doesn't believe in putting country first,” Huntsman told
reporters. “He's got this bumper sticker that says ‘believe in America.’ How can you believe in America when you're not willing to
serve America? That's just phony nonsense.”

Referring to Romney’s ubiquitous blue bumper stickers and signs that far outnumber his red counterparts along New Hampshire roads, Huntsman explained a position he and his wife Mary Kaye have articulated ad nauseam at more than 160 public events across the state.

“I say I served my country, I step up when my president asked and I always will, its part of my philosophy. I know it may be hard for Mitt Romney and some people to take, but most of America is with me because in the end they want this America to be working together.”

With just over 36 hours hours to go until voting begins in the first-in-nation primary, Huntsman declared he will continue to make his case to voters until the final hour. He has told reporters he doesn’t have to come in first, but only needs to “beat market expectations.” With polls ticking up for him in recent days, Huntsman is optimistic that his decision to focus his entire campaign in the Granite State will propel him to the next stop, South Carolina.

"We're going to barnstorm this state as we have been doing for months, more so than any other candidate," Huntsman said. "We're going to remind people that the underdog is out there, the underdog that can change this country. But in order for the underdog to perform at the top, we need the help of the people."

CONCORD, NH -- GOP presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman today strongly objected to a video made by an apparent Ron Paul supporter about his two adopted daughters and his ability to speak Mandarin Chinese.

"It's just stupid," he told a group of college students today. "If someone wants to poke fun at me for speaking Chinese, that's okay. What I object to is bringing forward pictures and videos of my adopted daughters, suggesting that there is some sinister motive there."

Huntsman went onto describe how 12-year-old Gracie, who often appears on the campaign trail at his side, was found in a vegetable market in China and taken to an orphanage, from which Huntsman and his wife Mary Kaye adopted her. At campaign stops throughout New Hampshire, Huntsman often playfully introduces Gracie his "senior foreign policy adviser."

Send in your questions for Sunday's NBC News-Facebook debate on Meet the Press

The video, posted by a user named NHLiberty4Paul on YouTube, questions Huntsman's American values and calls him a "Manchurian candidate," before showing Huntsman with a Mao Zedong suit super imposed on his likeness. The video also features images of him with his adopted daughters Gracie Mei and Asha, who were born in China and India, respectively.

Yesterday, Huntsman's campaign spokesman Tim Miller condemned the video as "offensive" and called on Ron Paul and the people who created the video to apologize to the Huntsman family.

The Paul campaign immediately responded and called the video "utterly distasteful."

"Anyone who would post something like this is clearly not a supporter of Dr. Paul's principles," said Kate Schackai, Paul's New Hampshire media coordinator.

The user did not immediately respond with comment, and NBC News has not yet been able to confirm if NHLiberty4Paul is indeed a Paul supporter.

When asked whether Paul himself should apologize, Huntsman told reporters, "If the group is in any way affiliated with his organization of course he should. It's just political campaign nonsense. It happens from time to time."

But ever the diplomat, Huntsman steered the conversation to a larger lesson, telling his college-aged audience that Gracie and Asha are "a daily reminder that there are a lot of kids in this world who don't have the breaks that you do and who face a very, very uncertain future that lacks health care that lacks the ability to dream and plan and any sense of upward mobility."

"Now these two girls are on the presidential campaign trail," Huntsman said. "I say, how cool is that?"

Huntsman's oldest three daughters have been particularly active on Twitter, campaigning for their dad as the @Jon2012girls.

MANCHESTER, NH -- As the saying goes, better late than never?

With less than one week to go before New Hampshire votes, Jon Huntsman's campaign has announced he has raised enough money to air his first TV ad on the state's largest television station, thanks to a special fundraising effort along with a major personal contribution by Huntsman himself.

Spokesman Tim Miller told NBC News that the ad will go up "in a day or two" on WMUR, New Hampshire's largest television station. The 30-second advertisement, entitled "Only One," calls Huntsman a "consistent conservative" and runs through Huntsman's resume and hits on what has become his closing argument: the "trust and economic deficits."

"The ad will drive home a message Gov. Huntsman is uniquely qualified to deliver to New Hampshire voters about closing our economic deficit, creating jobs and restoring trust in Washington," Miller said on Wednesday.

Huntsman's inaugural ad will hit the airwaves just as the campaign spotlight shifts to New Hampshire from Iowa, which Huntsman skipped.

The ad is only possible thanks to a targeted online appeal for contributions to get Huntsman on the air starting late last week, coupled with Huntsman's own wealth. Two days after fundraising started, Huntsman and his wife Mary Kaye decided to inject personal cash into campaign in the ninth hour.

As of this writing, the campaign had raised $88,115 from donors alone, according to its website. Most of this will be matched by Huntsman, though the campaign could not yet confirm exactly how much will be matched by the candidate and how much was raised before his pledge to match.

When the ad makes it on the air, it will be the fourth spot featuring Huntsman to go up here. Three pro-Huntsman ads from Our Destiny PAC, a super PAC supporting his candidacy, have aired in New Hampshire over the past several months.

Our Destiny, according to NBC's ad-tracking numbers, has spent $1.8 million in New Hampshire -- more than any other campaign or political action committee. That's followed by Ron Paul at $1.5 million, Mitt Romney at $1 million, and Rick Perry at $230,000.

PITTSFIELD, NH -- Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman had this reaction to the news that John McCain -- whom Huntsman endorsed four years ago -- was backing Mitt Romney today in New Hampshire:

Nobody cares.

"I have great regard for Sen. McCain. I love the man. But it's another example of establishment piling on," Huntsman told reporters at Globe Incorporated, a first-responder fire suit manufacturer today.

"It seems the more establishment piles on, Dole, McCain, all the rest, nobody cares. Nobody cares about this. I mean, none of the endorsements that Romney picked up have been a thing in terms of how people respond, because the people are looking for a new generation of leadership. They're looking for a new approach to problem solving in this country. You can get all the Doles and McCains in the world as Romney probably will, but in the end, nobody cares."

Last night, Huntsman -- who has focused his entire campaign here and skipped Iowa -- had the same message for the eventual winner of the Iowa caucuses, Rick Santorum Mitt Romney: "Welcome to New Hampshire. Nobody cares."

LEBANON, N.H. -- In his final twenty four hours before the rest of the GOP pack descends upon his temporary home, former Utah governor Jon Huntsman has one thing to say to his incoming GOP rivals: "Welcome to New Hampshire."

While the rest of the field awaits Iowa's decision, Huntsman is hoping his fortunes will mirror what Rick Santorum has experienced Iowa.

"He's had good momentum in Iowa and that's a tribute to his grassroots work,” Huntsman said of Santorum last night. “We've done the same grassroots work here in New Hampshire."

“I feel a little surge, a little renaissance,” Huntsman added, speaking to more than 120 voters last night in Dover. Just a month ago, in the same venue, he attracted only 30 people in a small classroom.

It is true: things in New Hampshire have turned up ever-so-slightly for Huntsman. Like Santorum, Huntsman’s audiences have swelled to the low triple digits. In the latest Suffolk/7News New Hampshire poll, he has hopped to third, above Newt Gingrich, but behind Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

But with a week to go, is it too little too late?

Because he is appealing to a large group of undeclared voters in New Hampshire, it is hard to project exactly what will happen.

Huntsman routinely says he is looking for the support of Republicans, independents and even Democrats. But at the end of the day, the former ambassador to China knows time is running out, so he has deployed two new strategies he hopes will get him what he calls “a ticket out” to South Carolina.

That strategy involves sharpening attacks on Romney. With just seven days left, Huntsman is relatively aggressive, capitalizing on the “anyone but Mitt Romney” sentiment seen in some pockets of New Hampshire. Yesterday, he implored voters to question Romney as an “establishment” candidate.

He draws a contrast with the other Mormon, former governor in the race, saying it is "pretty simple."

"I can get elected," Huntsman told reporters at the Dartmouth Medical Center today. "People want to know your core and they want to make sure you have a  consistent predictable core. I haven't been on three sides of all the issues."

Huntsman keeps saying he does not think voters are looking for a Romney "coronation." 

“You can do what the establishment wants you to do,” Huntsman offered in in Dover last night, holding the microphone close.

“You’ve got a good candidate in Mitt Romney. He’s a good guy. I respect him. But you know what, if you have 47 members of Congress supporting you, as he just announced today, you think you’re going to be to do what needs to be done in terms of reforming Congress? No how, no way. You think if you’re the largest recipient of donations from Wall Street you’re going to be able to take care of the banking problem and address too big too fail?No how, no way.”

Words aside, Huntsman has also decided to inject more of his personal wealth into campaign in the ninth hour. In an email with his wife Mary Kaye to supporters three days ago, Huntsman promised to match all donations “dollar for dollar” to help get their own thirty-second advertisement on the New Hampshire airwaves. 

Why put in cash now? 

“To stimulate a little more giving over a short period of time,” he explains. As of Tuesday afternoon, the campaign had raised more than $61,000 on their way to their $100,000 goal.

If the ad makes it on the air, it will be the fourth spot featuring Huntsman to go up here. Three pro-Huntsman ads from Our Destiny PAC, a super PAC working on his behalf, have gone up in New Hampshire over the past several months, though none have seemed to move his numbers in the polls.

FRANKLIN, N.H. -- While the rest of the pack campaigns in Iowa, here in New Hampshire Jon Huntsman is playing the electability card aggressively, calling himself the only viable alternative to Mitt Romney. Today, the former Utah governor who is skipping Iowa said that while Iowa is key in "winnowing down" the Republican field, he believes the New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary will determine the candidates' electability in a race against an "establishment" candidate.

"Electability is not going to come out of Iowa, it is going to come out of New Hampshire," Huntsman told voters in Franklin, referring to his 6 rivals campaigning in Iowa this weekend. "Electability is what people are going to be looking for in South Carolina and in Florida."

"I think there's a natural winnowing out process that takes place in Iowa," he added earlier in Derry. "There will be an outcome and that outcome will be quickly forgotten and then you have New Hampshire."

Huntsman argues that New Hampshire "will set the standard going forward." As he tries to downplay his absence from the Iowa caucuses, he added that he believes the Jan. 3 results will be forgotten "within a day or two."

It is an ideal but unlikely scenario for Huntsman, regardless of which GOP candidate walks away with the Iowa win on Tuesday. Despite the fact he has invested everything in New Hampshire, he has trailed front-runner Mitt Romney by double digits in state-wide polls since he got into the race last spring.

However, the wide gap has not stopped Huntsman from painting the New Hampshire contest as a two-man race. The former ambassador to China has targeted the lion's share of his attacks on Romney, calling him a "serial flip flopper" and predicting he would be an "status quo" president."

"You want Romney? Everybody wants an alternative," Huntsman said. "Let's face it, they want competition in the marketplace. And they are still looking for that key alternative."

Huntsman took every opportunity to draw clear distinctions between himself and the former Massachusetts governor.

"We are two different people. How can you bring change to Congress and capitol hill when you have half of congress supporting you?" Huntsman said in Franklin today, referring to a long list of prominent endorsements Romney has received. "No way, no how."

Huntsman has received almost no national-level endorsements except for former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge.

Yet at the same time, the candidate's campaign staff also seem threatened by Ron Paul. Starting last week, the campaign have put out a series of direct attacks on Paul, who also tops Huntsman in the polls in New Hampshire. Huntsman has called the libertarian-minded Paul "unelectable" and his foreign policy untenable to audiences across New Hampshire. And last night shortly after midnight, the campaign unveiled a new Twilight Zone-themed web video that features controversial statements by the Texas representative.

When asked about the new spot today in Derry, Huntsman tried to play down Paul's role as his competition.

"You have to compare and contrast with the leading candidates in the race here in New Hampshire," he told reporters. "It's only natural and that's what people expect. That's how people can better understand you and your message."

He quickly pivoted back to the electability factor.

"But I don't believe Ron Paul can go on and win the general election," Huntsman said. "I don't believe he can put together enough mainstream support to be successful in the general election and that's increasingly the question people I think need to ask."