2012 Republican Party presidential candidates
Candidates
The following individuals filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and/or announced their intentions to seek the 2012 presidential nomination of the Republican Party.

2012 Republican Party presidential candidates

Section Title: Candidates
Table Section Text: The following individuals filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and/or announced their intentions to seek the 2012 presidential nomination of the Republican Party.

Candidate	Background	Declared	States/popular vote/delegates won	Withdrew	Notes

2012 Republican Nominee[edit]

-	Former governor of Massachusetts	June 2, 2011	42 9,947,433 (52.13%) 2,061	N/A	The withdrawal of candidate Rick Santorum on April 10, 2012 eliminated his main challenger and all but guaranteed him the nomination.

Did not withdraw[edit]

-	U.S. Representative from Texas	May 13, 2011	1 2,017,957 (10.89%) 190	N/A	May 14, 2012 Paul announced that he would no longer actively campaign in states that have not held primaries, but rather focus on a strategy to secure delegates before the convention.

Withdrew after the primaries[edit]

-	Political consultant and gay rights activist of California	March 23, 2011	0 10,831 (0.07%) 0	June 29, 2012	Karger was not invited to any of the televised debates, but participated in the December WePolls.com online debate along with Gary Johnson and Buddy Roemer.

Appeared on more than two primary ballots[edit]

-	Former U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives from Georgia	May 11, 2011	2 2,689,771 (14.20%) 0	May 2, 2012	After a poor showing in the Delaware primaries, Gingrich's advisers hinted on April 25, 2012 that he would exit the race the following week.

-	Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania	June 6, 2011	11 3,816,110 (20.43%) 9	April 10, 2012	Santorum suspended his campaign following the hospitalization of his three-year-old daughter Isabella, as well as a strong showing by front runner Mitt Romney in primaries and polls.

-	Former governor of Louisiana	June 21, 2011	0 33,212 (0.17%) 1	February 22, 2012*	Roemer was not invited to any of the televised debates, but participated in the November LibertyPAC online debate with Gingrich, Johnson, and Santorum, and then also in the December WePolls.com online debate along with Gary Johnson and Fred Karger.

-	Governor of Texas	August 13, 2011	0 42,251 (0.28%) 0	January 19, 2012	After doing poorly in Iowa and New Hampshire, he suspended his campaign, endorsing Newt Gingrich. On April 25, he switched his endorsement to Mitt Romney, after advisers hinted that Gingrich would withdraw from the race.

-	Former Governor of Utah and US Ambassador to China	June 21, 2011	0 83,173 (0.44%) 1	January 16, 2012	After coming in third in New Hampshire, he suspended his campaign, endorsing Mitt Romney. He remained on the ballot in most states prior to Super Tuesday, and received 84,724 votes during the primary season, collecting two delegates.

-	U.S. Representative from Minnesota	June 27, 2011	0 41,401 (0.21%) 1	January 4, 2012	After winning the Ames Straw Poll, her candidacy collapsed and after coming sixth in the Iowa caucuses, she suspended her presidential campaign.

Suspended or withdrew before the primaries, but appeared on at least three primary ballots[edit]

-	Businessman of Georgia	May 21, 2011	0 13,629 (0.07%) 0	December 3, 2011	After a series of scandals, Cain suspended his presidential campaign, and after momentarily reviving it as part of Stephen Colbert's satirical presidential campaign, endorsed Newt Gingrich on January 28, 2012.

-	Former Governor of New Mexico	April 21, 2011	0 4,364 (0.02%) 0	December 28, 2011*	Johnson was in the first televised debate, and in one other televised debate, but was excluded from the other televised debates.

Sentence(s)

Johnson was the Former Governor of New Mexico on April 21, 2011, won by 0 4,364 (0.02%) 0 votes, withdrew on December 28, 2011* and he was in the first televised debate, and in one other televised debate, but was excluded from the other televised debates.

final_sentence: Johnson was the Former Governor of New Mexico on April 21, 2011, won by 0 4,364 (0.02%) 0 votes, withdrew on December 28, 2011* and he was in the first televised debate, and in one other televised debate, but was excluded from the other televised debates.