Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries

2012 Republican Party presidential primaries

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Candidate Mitt Romney Rick Santorum Home state Massachusetts Pennsylvania Delegate count 1,575 245 Contests won 42[1] 11[1] Popular vote 10,048,134[2] 3,938,527[2] Percentage 52.1% 20.4%   Candidate Ron Paul Newt Gingrich Home state Texas Georgia Delegate count 177 138 Contests won 4[1] 2[1] Popular vote 2,099,441[2] 2,737,442[2] Percentage 10.9% 14.2%

First place by first-instance vote First place by delegate allocation First place by convention roll call   Mitt Romney   Rick Santorum   Newt Gingrich   Ron Paul

Previous Republican nominee John McCain Republican nominee Mitt Romney

2012 U.S. presidential election
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This article contains the results of the 2012 Republican presidential primaries and caucuses, which resulted in the nomination of Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee for President of the United States. The 2012 Republican primaries were the selection processes by which the Republican Party selected delegates to attend the 2012 Republican National Convention from August 27–30. The series of primaries, caucuses, and state conventions culminated in the national convention, where the delegates cast their votes to formally select a candidate. A simple majority (1,144) of the total delegate votes (2,286) was required to become the party's nominee.

Seven major candidates were in the race to become the nominee. Michele Bachmann was the first to drop out, ending her campaign after a poor performance in Iowa. Jon Huntsman withdrew from the race after placing third in the New Hampshire primary. Rick Perry dropped out after Iowa and New Hampshire but prior to the South Carolina primary after polling poorly. Rick Santorum suspended his campaign in April after polls showed a strong possibility that he would lose his home state of Pennsylvania to Mitt Romney, and his daughter Bella's condition worsened. Newt Gingrich withdrew after insufficient funds prevented him from moving forward with a strong campaign. On May 14, 2012, Ron Paul announced that his campaign would switch to a delegate accumulation strategy.^[3] On May 29, according to projected counts, Mitt Romney crossed the threshold of 1,144 delegates. He was formally nominated at the Republican National Convention on August 28.