Conservative favorite Doug Hoffman suspended his Congressional campaign Tuesday, improving Republican prospects of reclaiming the upstate New York seat that Democrat Bill Owens won in a three-way special election last fall.

It is too late, however, for Hoffman to remove his name from the ballot, where he will appear under the Conservative Party.

Hoffman’s decision, reported Tuesday morning in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, is intended to unify the Republican Party behind nominee Matt Doheny in an effort to reclaim the seat held by Republicans for much of the last century.

“Our nation is at a crossroads, and it is imperative that on Election Day we wrest control of Congress from [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat majority,” Hoffman said in a prepared statement, as reported by the Daily Enterprise. “It was never my intention to split the vote.”

Hoffman lost a tightly fought Republican primary against Doheny on Sept. 14, and he initially said he would fight to win the seat under the Conservative Party. Backed by the tea party movement, he did the same thing in last fall’s special election, creating a three-way contest that split the Republican vote and gave Owens a victory in a district that had been held by Republicans for more than 100 years.

Until Monday morning, it appeared that the November election could be headed in the same direction.