There are a total of 2,288 delegates available to Republican candidates in 2012. Half of the delegates (1,144) are needed to win the 2012 GOP nomination. The candidates expected to be the most competitive at the start of the 2012 primary/caucus season are Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum. Up until the week of Christmas 2011, Rick Santorum was an afterthought and polling between 1-5% in most polls before his sudden surge as the “non-Romney” candidate. Other GOP candidates such as Michele Bachmann and Jon Huntsman aren’t expected to be much of a factor in the race. The first two months of 2012 have a total of eight states holding primaries and caucuses. “Super Tuesday” is March 6th, 2012 with Massachusetts, Ohio, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia holding primaries and Alaska, Idaho, North Dakota and Wyoming holding caucuses.
| Candidate |
Delegates |
| Newt Gingrich |
23 |
January 2012:
Iowa Caucus – January 3, 2012 – Mitt Romney beats Rick Santorum by 8 votes. Ron Paul third.
| Iowa Caucus – January 3, 2012 – 28 delegates (nonbinding caucus) |
| Presidential Candidate |
Home State |
Caucus Result |
Delegates |
| Rick Santorum |
Pennsylvania |
29,839 |
25% |
13 |
52% |
| Mitt Romney |
Massachusetts |
29,805 |
25% |
12 |
48% |
| Ron Paul |
Texas |
26,036 |
21% |
0 |
0 |
| Newt Gingrich |
Virginia |
16,163 |
13% |
0 |
0 |
| Rick Perry |
Texas |
12,557 |
10% |
0 |
0 |
| Michelle Bachmann |
Minnesota |
6,046 |
5% |
0 |
0 |
| Jon Huntsman |
Utah |
739 |
<1% |
0 |
0 |
New Hampshire Primary January 10, 2012 – Romney 39%, Ron Paul 23%, Jon Huntsman 17%
South Carolina Primary January 21, 2012 – Gingrich 42%, Romney 28%, Santorum 17%
| Florida Primary – January 31, 2012 – 50 delegates |
| Presidential Candidate |
Home State |
Primary Votes |
Delegates |
| Mitt Romney |
Massachusetts |
771,842 |
46% |
50 |
100% |
| Newt Gingrich |
Virginia |
531,294 |
32% |
0 |
0 |
| Rick Santorum |
Pennsylvania |
222,248 |
13% |
0 |
0 |
| Ron Paul |
Texas |
116,776 |
7% |
0 |
0 |
Candidates:
| [singlepic id=771 w=173 h=125 float=none] |
[singlepic id=833 w=173 h=125 float=none] |
[singlepic id=840 w=173 h=125 float=none] |
| Mitt Romney (website) |
Rick Perry (website) |
Rick Santorum (website) |
| [singlepic id=799 w=173 h=125 float=none] |
[singlepic id=801 w=173 h=125 float=none] |
[singlepic id=837 w=173 h=125 float=none] |
| Ron Paul (website) |
Newt Gingrich (website) |
Michele Bachmann – Out 1/4/12 |
| [singlepic id=839 w=173 h=125 float=none] |
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| Jon Huntsman (website) |
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