Florida Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis is stepping down from Congress Monday so he can give his full attention to his tight race for the state's gubernatorial seat. 

NBC News's Alex Moe, Rebecca Shabad and Ali Vitali confirmed Monday that DeSantis resigned in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. In that letter, the congressman noted that he'd likely have to miss most of the rest of the 2018 session and didn't want to continue to draw a salary if he was not going to be present. 

DeSantis's bid against Democrat Andrew Gillum has turned into one of the highest-profile gubernatorial races in the country. The Republican is running as an unapologetic supporter of President Trump, who endorsed him in the primary, while Gillum's progressive platform has sparked enthusiasm for his candidacy on the left. 

The news of DeSantis's resignation comes the morning after The Washington Post reported that the congressman has given speeches at conferences held by a group whose founder has made racist comments about a "race war." A DeSantis spokeswoman told the paper that he is not responsible "for the views and speeches of others." 

It's also not the first time DeSantis was caught up in racially-tinged controversy — last month, he said that Florida voters looking at him and Gillum, who is black, shouldn't "monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state." DeSantis and his allies argued he was simply using a phrase that had no racial intent behind it. 

Polling shows the two candidates separated by a razor-thin margin — Quinnipiac University's poll earlier this month saw Gillum up 3 points, within the poll's margin of error.