page_title: Mitt Romney 2008 presidential campaign
section_title: Caucus and primary results 2008
hierarchical_section_title: Mitt Romney 2008 presidential campaign / Caucus and primary results 2008
caption_attribution_description: Mitt Romney at one of his presidential campaign rallies.
context_page_description: The Mitt Romney presidential campaign of 2008 began on January 3, 2007, two days before Mitt Romney left office as governor of Massachusetts, when he filed to form an exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission to run for President of the United States as a Republican in the 2008 election. Subsequently, on February 13, 2007, he formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008. He did so at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, as an emblem of American ingenuity.
  Romney was considered a top-tier candidate in his bid for the Republican nomination, despite hurdles such as low name recognition and questions about his Mormon faith. Romney partly financed his campaign with his own personal fortune, having contributed over $35 million of the $90 million raised by his campaign. Despite that, he also raised more money than any other Republican primary candidate.
  In a nationwide poll conducted on January 2, 2008, Romney placed first among Republican voters nationally. However, he came in second in the Iowa caucuses to Mike Huckabee.
context_section_description: In the January 3 Iowa caucus, the first contest of the primary elections, Romney received 25% of the vote and placed second to Mike Huckabee, who received 34%. The result was seen as disappointing as Romney spent about five times more than the former Arkansas governor in Iowa and had banked on wins in both Iowa and New Hampshire to propel him to an overall victory.  Twelve of Iowa's delegates were awarded to Romney for his second-place finish.
  Two days later, Romney won the Wyoming caucuses with 67% of the vote and the first delegate to the Republican National Convention by receiving eight of the twelve delegates for the state.
  Three days after the Wyoming caucus, Romney placed second, gathering 32% of the vote to John McCain's 37%, in the New Hampshire primary and received four of New Hampshire's twelve delegates. On the day of the New Hampshire primary, Romney had reached a new high in support according to one daily tracking poll.
  On January 15, Romney won the Michigan primary taking 39% and 24 delegates.  He collected over 325,000 votes, more than any candidate in any primary up until that point. Romney gained another win in the Nevada caucus on January 19 with 51% of the vote, but came in fourth in South Carolina primary with 15% of the vote.
  On January 29, Romney came in second to John McCain in the Florida primary. McCain gained 36% of the vote to Romney's 31%. The race was contentious, with each candidate labeling the other a "liberal". After Florida, McCain was the clear frontrunner for the nomination, and had the most delegates to the national convention heading in to the possibly-decisive February 5 Super Tuesday contests.  21 states would hold Republican primaries that day.
  On February 2, Romney won the Maine Republican Caucus with 52% of the votes.
  On February 4, Mike Huckabee one of Romney's rivals in the primary accused Romney of voter suppression, saying that Romney and his political surrogates should stop telling voters "a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain", Romney's other chief rival. Huckabee also said Romney was being "presumptuous and arrogant" thinking his supporters would vote for Romney if Huckabee left the race.
  On February 5, Super Tuesday, Romney won in the Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Utah caucuses and primaries. Mike Huckabee won West Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee. However, John McCain strengthened his lead by winning Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma.
  Romney won 11 state primaries and caucuses, 4.7 million votes and 291 delegates.
caption: Romney at a rally on January 12, 2008
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