U.S. Republican presidential contender Herman Cain announced Saturday that he has decided to suspend his presidential campaign.

"I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family," he told supporters at a grand opening ceremony of his new campaign headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

U.S. Republican presidential contender Herman Cain announces on Saturday that he has decided to suspend his presidential campaign. [Xinhua/AFP]

The move comes a few days after the candidate said he was " reassessing" his candidacy in the wake of new allegations of sexual impropriety.

An Atlanta businesswoman alleged this week that she had a 13- year extramarital affair with Cain. This raised more doubt about the candidate's fidelity and integrity following revelations of sexual harassment allegations against Cain during his tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s.

Those "false and unproved" accusations caused pains and price on himself and his family, and distracted his abilities to provide solutions to the American people, Cain said.

"I am disappointed it came to this point ... but I will not be silenced and I'm not going away," he said, adding that he will then seek to bring changes to the country from outside rather than inside Washington.

The former CEO of Godfather's Pizza surged to the top of the Republican field in late September thanks to his signature "9-9-9" tax reform plan and Washington outsider status. He was able to stay atop for almost two months before squeezed out by Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House of Representatives.

A Quinnipiac University poll in late November showed the sexual scandals and repeated stumbles on the trail have taken a toll on his poll numbers nationally, falling from 30 percent in early November to only 14 percent.

He also plummeted in key battleground states like Iowa, which is to hold the first-in-the-nation caucuses. A new Des Moines Register poll showed that Cain now draws just 8 percent of the vote in Iowa, while at the end of October he was at 23 percent, 1 point ahead of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Cain's exit came just a month away from Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, which is likely to be a two-man contest between Romney and Gingrich, the current front-runners in the race.

Many believe Gingrich would benefit most from Cain's dropping out, as both candidates are seen as choices for anti-Romney conservatives.