Having been considered a potential candidate for Vice President by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012, Rubio has been seen as a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016 since at least the end of the 2012 election. He suspended his campaign on March 15, 2016.
On March 30, 2015 Rubio announced on Fox News and through social media that he would be making a "Big Announcement" on April 13 in Miami, Florida. While he did not specify whether the announcement pertained to his reelection as a United States Senator or for the Presidency, most media consensus was that Rubio would be announcing his presidential run. He made the announcement at the Freedom Tower in Downtown Miami.
Rubio raised about $1.25 million online the day after his announcement. By the three-month mark of his campaign - July 13 - Rubio had raised over $12 million.
Rick Santorum 2016 presidential campaign
The 2016 presidential campaign of Rick Santorum, former United States Senator from Pennsylvania, was formally announced at a rally in Pittsburgh on May 27, 2015.
His campaign for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016 is his second bid for the office, after having been a candidate in 2012, where he received the second most delegates after 2012 nominee Mitt Romney.
Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign
The Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016 started on June 16, 2015 when businessman Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2016 election. Trump has campaigned to be the nominee previously. He made the announcement at a rally in the Trump Tower in New York City.
During the election on November 8, 2016, Trump was elected President of the United States, while his running mate Mike Pence was elected Vice President of the United States.
Trump declared, "We are going to make our country great again" and he made a commitment to become the "greatest jobs president." Trump's official campaign slogan is "Make America Great Again." (which was Ronald Reagan's campaign slogan, but Trump trademarked it).
Trump is opposed to illegal immigration and has promised to build a wall on the US-Mexico border, and believes that illegal immigrants already in this country should be deported. He is against the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Trump also proposed banning Muslims from entering the United States, an idea that many Republicans criticized as unconstitutional. He also supports reforming the tax code.
A survey conducted by "The Economist" / YouGov released July 9, 2015 became significant as the first major nationwide poll to show Trump as the 2016 Republican presidential front-runner. A Suffolk/"USA Today" poll released on July 14, 2015, showed Trump with 17% support among Republican voters, with Jeb Bush at 14%. A "Washington Post"/ABC News poll taken on July 16–19, showed Trump had 24% Republican support, over Scott Walker at 13%. A CNN/ORC poll showed Trump in the lead at 18% support among Republican voters, over Jeb Bush at 15%, and a CBS News poll from August 4 showed Trump with 24% support, Bush second at 13%, and Walker third at 10%.
On May 4, 2016, Trump became the presumptive nominee after his only challengers Texas United States senator Ted Cruz and Governor of Ohio John Kasich dropped out. Trump has been opposed by other Republicans. Several prominent Republican politicians have refused to endorse him, and his candidacy has been protested by many people.
Lincoln Chafee 2016 presidential campaign
The 2016 presidential campaign of Lincoln Chafee, the 74th Governor of Rhode Island, and former United States Senator from Rhode Island, was formally launched on June 3, 2015. His campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election is his first campaign as a Democrat, after having previously been elected Senator as a Republican, and Governor as an Independent.
In the 2008 presidential election, he formally endorsed the Democratic nominee Barack Obama. In 2012, Chafee was one of 35 co-chairs selected to serve on President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.
On April 9, 2015, Chafee announced that he had formed an exploratory committee in preparation for a potential candidacy for the Democratic Party's 2016 presidential nomination. The following month, on May 29, it was confirmed that Chafee would announce his decision regarding a 2016 presidential bid on June 3.
Following a widely panned debate performance, poor polling numbers, and a poor fundraising campaign, Lincoln Chafee announced on October 23 that he would be suspending his campaign.
Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign
The 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, the 67th Secretary of State, former First Lady, and former United States Senator from New York, was announced via a YouTube video on April 12, 2015. A presidential candidate in 2008, her candidacy in the 2016 election is her second bid for the presidency. She was widely seen as the front runner for the Democratic nomination, although she faced several challengers, especially Bernie Sanders.
On November 9, 2016, after the presidential election, Hillary Clinton had lost to Donald Trump at the U.S. Electoral College.
According to nationwide opinion polls in early 2015, Clinton was the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. She did face other several primary election challengers. A Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll in mid-August 2015 showed Senator Bernie Sanders with a 44-37 lead over Clinton in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire. And, in August 2015, Vice President Joe Biden was reported to be seriously considering a possible challenge to Clinton.
On July 22, 2016, Clinton announced Virginia United States senator Tim Kaine as her running mate.
The Clinton campaign had planned a delayed announcement, possibly as late as July 2015. Her team decided to make the announcement earlier because of publicity about Clinton's use of a private email server while Secretary of State. Clinton made her official announcement on the following Sunday, April 12, 2015.
Martin O'Malley 2016 presidential campaign
The 2016 presidential campaign of Martin O'Malley, the 61st Governor of Maryland, for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2016 was announced on May 30, 2015 and suspended on February 1, 2016.
O'Malley had been seen as a potential presidential candidate since at least December 2012. In that month, he said that Hillary Clinton, who has launched her own 2016 campaign, would be a "great President", brushing off questions about his own potential candidacy and commenting that he would have to do "a lot of soul-searching and discernment and introspection."
The day prior to his announcement, May 29, O'Malley released a video of himself strumming the presidential fanfare "Hail to the Chief" on his guitar, alluding to his impending announcement. The following day, May 30, O'Malley launched his campaign at a scheduled rally in Baltimore, Maryland.
O'Malley suspended his campaign after poor polling numbers and a poor performance in the Iowa caucuses.
Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign
The 2016 presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, the junior United States Senator from Vermont, and former Congressman of the same, began with a formal announcement by Sanders on May 26, 2015 in Burlington, Vermont, which followed an informal announcement on April 30.
Sanders had been considered a potential candidate for President of the United States, both as an Independent and a Democrat since at least November 2013. Although Sanders became an independent after briefly aligning with the left-wing Liberty Union Party in the 1970s, many of his views align with those of the Democratic Party. Sanders caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, and he has confirmed that he is running as a Democrat.