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Thursday morning, Rick Perry kicked off an eventful day by ending his presidential bid several miles from where he started it in the Lowcountry. Perry suspended his campaign and endorsed former GOP opponent Newt Gingrich on his way out the door.

"I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country," said Perry. "We've had our differences, which campaigns will inevitably have, and Newt is not perfect but who among us is? "

Perry's endorsement added to Gingrich's growing momentum in the state. Last week, the former House speaker was down double digits in the polls. New numbers out Thursday showed Gingrich with a razor-thin 33 percent to 31 percent lead over Mitt Romney, who earlier this week held a 14 percentage point advantage. Texas Congressman Ron Paul is running in third place with 15 percent, followed by Rick Santorum at 11 percent. Paul's suppport remains steady while Santorum has dropped five points since earlier this week.

However, Gingrich's time at the top could be brief. His ex-wife Marianne is now speaking out, saying Gingrich asked her for an open marriage in the late 1990's so he could keep seeing his mistress, Callista, who is now his wife.

"I said to him 'Newt, we've been married a long time,' and he said 'yes, but you want me all to yourself. Callista doesn't care what I do,'" said Marianne Gingrich in an exclusive interview with ABC News.

At Thursday night's debate in North Charleston, the seventeenth in the process so far, the proceedings opened with a question for Gingrich about his ex-wife's remarks.

"I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to run this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office," responded Gingrich. "And I am appalled that you would open a presidential debate on a topic like that."

Gingrich went on to deny that the conversation with his then-wife had ever happened.

Mitt Romney also added the debate should "get onto the real issues."

Whether the conversation between Gingrich and his ex-wife happened, some analysts say the open marriage story will hurt Gingrich with South Carolina's evangelical community, which could make up more than 50 percent of the vote in Saturday's primary.

"Oh, of course it hurts him. Partly because of who he's trying to appeal to," said Mark Tompkins, a USC political scientist. "This is not a comfortable story for folks in the evangelical Christian community."

Still, as Gingrich emerges as a threat so close to voting time, Mitt Romney campaigned in Charleston Thursday ahead of the evening's debate, by largely staying quiet about the news of the day. He also lost his claim to an Iowa caucus win. That state's final certified tally came out early Thursday giving Rick Santorum a 34-vote edge that he touted in the Lowcountry.

"We feel very, very good about what this win will mean. It says we can win elections," Santorum told supporters at a rally in Mount Pleasant.

Romney, called the development a "virtual tie," but later congratulated Santorum as he looks to hold on in South Carolina down the home stretch.

"You have to believe that unless he (Romney) does something very strange in the next 48 hours he's going to get 30-something percent of the vote," said Tompkins. "The question is where the not-Mitt vote is going to go."

Santorum, Perry and Gingrich have all jockeyed for the title of the anti-Romney conservative with South Carolina's Christian community. With Perry now out, some political observers think the Christian conservative vote could now shift to Santorum after the claims made by Gingrich's ex-wife, essentially splitting up the votes and giving Romney a close win in Saturday's primary.

On Thursday, Mitt Romney also picked up an endorsement from a well-known Perry supporter in South Carolina. Former U.S. ambassador and South Carolina speaker of the House David Wilkins is backing Romney instead of endorsing Gingrich.

"I think (Romney) is by far our best chance to take back the White House," Wilkins told CNN. "With the economy like it is we need somebody with business experience. I think he can do more for America than anyone else."

Wilkins, a Greenville Republican, served as speaker of the South Carolina House for 11 years, and in 2000 was co-chairman of the George W. Bush campaign.