2012 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and Memphis International, Finals, Men's doubles
Max Mirnyi /  Daniel Nestor defeated  Ivan Dodig /  Marcelo Melo, 4–6, 7–5, [10–7]


2012 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and Memphis International, Finals, Women's doubles
Andrea Hlaváčková /  Lucie Hradecká defeated  Vera Dushevina /  Olga Govortsova, 6–3, 6–4


2012 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships – Doubles
Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor defended the title winning against Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 4–6, 7–5, [10–7].


2012 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships – Singles
Andy Roddick was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Xavier Malisse. Jürgen Melzer defeated Milos Raonic in the final 7–5, 7–6(7–4).


2012 Reigate and Banstead Borough Council election
The 2012 Reigate and Banstead Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council in Surrey, England. One third of the council was elected,. The Conservative Party remained in overall control of the council.


2012 Reinert Open
The 2012 Reinert Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 5th edition of the tournament and was part of the 2012 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place in Versmold, Germany between 2 and 8 July 2012.


2012 Reinert Open, WTA entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2012 Reinert Open, WTA entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received entry from a Lucky Loser spot:


2012 Reinert Open – Doubles
Elizaveta Ianchuk and Julia Mayr were the defending champions, but both decided not to participate.


2012 Reinert Open – Doubles
Mailen Auroux and María Irigoyen won the title, defeating Elena Bogdan and Réka-Luca Jani in the final, 6–1, 6–4.


2012 Reinert Open – Singles
Mariana Duque was the defending champion, but decided not to participate.


2012 Reinert Open – Singles
Annika Beck won the title, defeating Anastasija Sevastova in the final, 6–3, 6–1.


2012 Renault UK Clio Cup
The 2012 AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK season is a multi-event, one make motor racing championship held across England. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded drivers, competing in a Clio Renault Sport 200 that conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It forms part of the extensive program of support categories built up around the BTCC centrepiece.


2012 Renault UK Clio Cup
This season is the 17th Renault Clio Cup United Kingdom season. The season commenced on 31 March at Brands Hatch – on the circuit's Indy configuration – and will conclude on 21 October at the same venue, utilising the Grand Prix circuit, after sixteen races to be held at eight meetings, all in support of the 2012 British Touring Car Championship.


2012 Renault UK Clio Cup, Regulation changes
The only change from 2011 to the technical regulations will be a weight increase of 15 kg (33 lb) to a total minimum weight of 1,165 kg (2,568 lb).


2012 Renault UK Clio Cup, Teams and drivers
A 23-driver entry list was released by series organisers on 20 March 2012.


2012 Renault UK Clio Cup, Race calendar and results
The 2012 calendar supports the BTCC at all rounds, with no major changes from 2011.


2012 Renfrewshire Council election
The 2012 Renfrewshire Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Renfrewshire Council. The election used the eleven wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system a form of proportional representation, with 40 Councillors being elected.


2012 Renfrewshire Council election
The election saw the Scottish Labour Party gain 5 seats to regain an overall majority on the Council that they had lost at the time of the 2007 Local Elections, while also significantly increasing their vote. The Scottish National Party remained in second place on the Council but recorded a disappointing performance as the party lost 2 seats and saw a slight drop in its vote share. Both the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats declined in numbers to just 1 seat each. Meanwhile, Independent and former Labour Party member, Paul Mack, secured a seat on the Council.


2012 Renfrewshire Council election
Following the election the Labour majority administration was formed. This replaced the previous SNP - Lib Dem coalition that had existed from 2007-2012.


2012 Renfrewshire Council election, Election result
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence
The 2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence started in early 2012 and involved ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians of the Republic of Macedonia.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Overview
From February to March 2012, there was a wave of inter-ethnic and inter-religious violence throughout the Republic of Macedonia.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Overview
On February 28, a policeman killed two ethnic Albanians in Gostivar (western Republic of Macedonia), after the policeman stated he was attacked by the Albanians for refusing to park in a different location.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Overview
On March 7, five people were beaten in a bus in the capital, Skopje.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Overview
On March 10, several acts of violence were recorded in Skopje and Tetovo. In Skopje, a group of youngsters, ethnic Albanians, beat a 66-year-old. In addition, a wooden bridge over the Vardar River was burned. In Tetovo, ethnic Albanians beat a 16-year-old girl. Also, a policeman was physically assaulted. Five people were arrested.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Overview
On late April 12, four young men were abducted and killed in an execution-style killing near the capital, Skopje. A fifth man was killed soon afterwards, possibly because he witnessed the event. The dead were confirmed as being ethnic Macedonian, and anti-Albanian protests erupted soon afterwards.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Religious incidents
News agencies reported that Muslims took offense to costumes worn by ethnic Macedonians on January 14, 2012 at an annual carnival in Vevčani. It was followed by several protests by ethnic Albanians. Seemingly in retaliation, an Orthodox church near Struga in southwest Republic of Macedonia was burned on January 30.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Macedonian protests
Throughout the Republic of Macedonia many protests were organised in a various cities and villages, two of which turned violent: the village Smilkovci where the victims came from and in the city of Skopje.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Macedonian protests
The Skopje protest was organised by youths. The protesters wanted to march in the Saraj Municipality where there is an Albanian majority. The protesters were stopped by the police and there started a 10-minute conflict between the police and the protesters. The protesters were recorded chanting “a good Shqiptar is a dead Shqiptar” and “gas chambers for Shqiptars”.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Macedonian protests
Another large peaceful protest was organised in Bitola where the Macedonian demonstrators marched through the main street of Shirok Sokak and lit candles for the victims under Bitola's Clock Tower. The protest was said to have been organised by Čkembari.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Albanian protests
On 4 May 2012, 1,500-3,000 ethnic Albanians protested in Skopje demanding the release of the arrested Albanians, chanting "God is One", "To be an Albanian is not a Crime", "UÇK", "See you in the Mountains", and "Greater Albania". Some protestors later hurled stones at police and smashed the windows of a bus stop. Shukri Alia, blacklisted by the EU and sought by the Macedonian police for murder and armed attacks on two Skopje police stations, reportedly led efforts to organize new protests. Police said they believe he is hiding in Kosovo.


2012 Republic of Macedonia inter-ethnic violence, Albanian protests
On 11 May 2012, 5,000 -10,000 Albanians protested in front of the government building in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. They waved Albanian flags and shouted "Muslims are not Terrorists! ", “We are not Terrorists, we are Muslims”, “KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army)”, “Greater Albania”, "Murderers", "UÇK" and smashed windows in government offices and court buildings. Six policemen, one reporter, and one cameraman were lightly injured. The demonstrators also carried banners alleging that “Serbs and ethnic-Macedonians” were responsible for the quintuple murder.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of the Congo on 15 July 2012. A second round was held on 5 August 2012. The second round was previously moved forward to 29 July, without explanation, but ultimately was held on the original date.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Electoral system
The 139 seats in the National Assembly were elected in single-member constituencies. If no candidate received a majority of votes, a second round was held in that constituency, in which the candidate receiving the most votes was declared the winner. Candidates had to be at least 25 years old and have no criminal record.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Electoral system
Voting did not take place in three districts of Brazzaville, which had been affected by the death of 300 people after a munitions dump exploded in March.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Campaign
The four main parties in the election were the Congolese Party of Labour (PCT) led by President Denis Sassou Nguesso, the Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development, the Union for Democracy and the Republic and the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS). Over 1,200 candidates registered to run in the election, including 124 women. The second round saw 140 candidates contest the remaining 70 seats.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Results
The first round's result was announced on 20 July, in which 69 seats were won with a majority. The PCT won 57 of those 69 seats, while its allies won 10 seats; UPADS won one seat and one seat was won by an independent candidate. The PCT was particularly dominant in Sassou Nguesso's native Cuvette Region, where it won 11 seats. Notably, two children of President Sassou Nguesso won seats in the first round: Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso won a seat in Cuvette Region, while Claudia Lembouma Sassou Nguesso won a seat in Brazzaville.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Results
Second round results, announced on 7 August 2012, showed the PCT winning 32 of the remaining 67 seats, thus giving the party a parliamentary majority with 89 total seats. UPADS, the main opposition party, won seven total seats, while the MCDDI, a party allied to the PCT, also won seven total seats; independent candidates won 12 total seats. An assortment of smaller parties won the remaining seats, all of which were allied with the PCT. UPADS was the only opposition party to win seats.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Results
The most important outcome of the election was the massive increase in seats for the PCT, which nearly doubled its share and obtained a comfortable majority. While the PCT, the party of President Sassou Nguesso, had previously been the most important party in the country, it had held only a plurality of seats and controlled the National Assembly in alliance with various smaller parties. The 2012 election made the PCT's dominance of the political scene unambiguous. The two other major parties, UPADS and the MCDDI, both lost seats, while independent candidates won less than a third as many seats as they had in the previous election.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Results
136 seats in the National Assembly were filled in the election, with three seats still vacant due to voting not being held on schedule in three Brazzaville constituencies. In the latter three constituencies, Talangai 1, Talangai 2, and Ouenzé 1, which were affected by the March 2012 disaster, the three deputies elected to represent them in 2007—Hyacinthe Ingani, Jean-Claude Ibovi, and Pierre Ngolo—had their terms extended by the Constitutional Court in a ruling on 17 August 2012. The ruling was in line with a constitutional provision allowing for such extensions when voting could not be properly held due to "exceptionally serious circumstances".


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Aftermath
The bureau of the National Assembly, composed of seven members, was elected by the deputies on 5 September 2012; the PCT received five posts in the bureau, including all of the most important posts, while the MCDDI, an allied party, received one secondary post, and UPADS, the sole opposition party, also received one secondary post. Justin Koumba, who was President of the National Assembly during the 2007–2012 parliamentary term, was re-elected for another term; he was the only candidate for the post. Most of the other members of the bureau were changed.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Aftermath
René Dambert Ndouane was elected as First Vice-President and Sylvestre Ossiala was elected as Second Vice-President. Gabriel Valère Eteka Yemet was elected as First Secretary, while Joseph Kignoumbi Kia Mboungou—a UPADS deputy, and the only opposition figure to be included in the bureau—was re-elected to his post as Second Secretary. Charlotte Opimbat was elected as First Quaestor and Joseph Badiabio, an MCDDI deputy, was elected as Second Quaestor.


2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election, Aftermath
On 19 September 2012, the heads of the National Assembly's seven standing committees were elected by acclamation. Three of the standing committees were chaired by PCT deputies, while deputies from UPADS, the Union for the Republic (UR), Action and Renewal Movement (MAR), and the Rally for Democracy and Social Progress (RDPS) chaired one standing committee each. Thus six of the committees were chaired by deputies from the majority parties and one by an opposition deputy.


2012 Republican National Convention
The 2012 Republican National Convention was a gathering held by the U.S. Republican Party during which delegates officially nominated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for president and vice president, respectively, for the 2012 election. Prominent members of the party delivered speeches and discussed the convention theme, "A Better Future." The convention was held during the week of August 27, 2012, in Tampa, Florida at the Tampa Bay Times Forum (now Amalie Arena). The city, which expected demonstrations and possible vandalism, used a federal grant to bolster its police force in preparation. Due to the approach of Hurricane Isaac, convention officials changed the convention schedule on August 26, 2012; the convention came to order on August 27, 2012 and then immediately recessed until the following afternoon because of the risk of Isaac hitting Tampa.


2012 Republican National Convention, Background, Site selection
On August 14, 2009, the Republican National Committee named an eight-member Site Selection Committee to start the process of selecting a host city for the 2012 convention. News reports in early 2010 indicated that Tampa, as well as Salt Lake City, Utah and Phoenix, Arizona, had been selected as finalist candidates for the convention site. The decision was announced on May 12, 2010, when Tampa was selected as the host city.


2012 Republican National Convention, Background, Host Committee
The 2012 Tampa Bay Host Committee, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, was the official and federally designated presidential convention host committee for the convention, charged with the task of raising the necessary funds to hold the convention. The Host Committee was composed of 10 prominent Florida business executives, civic leaders, and other community leaders. Al Austin was chairman and Ken Jones served as the president and chief executive officer. The Host Committee achieved its fundraising goal as of August 27, 2012, having raised more than $55,000,000 to host the 2012 Republican National Convention.


2012 Republican National Convention, Background, Objectives and themes
The convention theme was "A Better Future". Each day also had its own theme: Monday's was "We Can Do Better"; Tuesday's was "We Built It"; Wednesday's was "We Can Change It"; and Thursday's was "We Believe in America." In addition to these daily themes, the Republican National Committee announced that it would present a series of policy workshops to be hosted by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich called "Newt University".


2012 Republican National Convention, Background, Objectives and themes
A primary objective of the convention, described both as Romney's "biggest election hurdle" and as Romney's "most urgent task" of concern by top Republicans, was to counter efforts to portray him as an out-of-touch elitist and to rehabilitate the image of his business career. The convention lasted from August 27–30, 2012. According to the convention website, it hosted 2,286 delegates, 2,125 alternates and 15,000 credentialed members of the media. The convention CEO was William D. Harris.


2012 Republican National Convention, Background, Objectives and themes
Several notable Republican figures chose not to attend the convention, including former presidents George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush, and former vice-president Dick Cheney. However, a video tribute to George W. Bush, who has stayed out of the political arena since leaving office three years earlier, was shown at the convention on Wednesday night, in which Bush's family members praised him. In the tribute, Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, said of George W. Bush: "There was never a taint of scandal around his presidency. And I think we forget the importance of that."


2012 Republican National Convention, Background, Security
The convention was designated as a National Special Security Event, which meant that ultimate authority over law enforcement went to the Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security. The federal government provided $50 million for Convention security. Much of the money went to deputizing additional police. Other expenses included expanded surveillance technology and an armored SWAT vehicle. Tampa Bay disclosed specifically that it had spent $1.18 M on video linkages between ground police and helicopters. The city paid $16,500 to the Florida State Fairgrounds Authority in exchange for police use of local fairgrounds as a command center.


2012 Republican National Convention, Background, Security
Dani Doane of the Heritage Foundation described the police presence as "unnerving" and "like a police state". Others reported a quiet week with small protests and few arrests. Police handed out bottles of water during the event and at one point served protestors a box lunch.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Platform
A committee, chaired by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, met in Tampa to draft a party platform. On August 21, 2012, the committee released a 60-page document for approval at the convention. The platform was enthusiastically approved at the convention on August 28. Policies include:


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Nominations
According to Fox News and Associated Press delegate projections, Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, clinched the Republican presidential nomination in the Texas primary on May 29, 2012 and became the party's presumptive nominee. Two weeks before the convention, on August 11, Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate. The decision made Ryan the first major party vice presidential candidate from Wisconsin.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Nominations
Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich formally released their delegates in the week before the convention and encouraged them to vote for Romney. Ron Paul retained his delegates, as part of an overall strategy to influence the party. The final composition of several delegations was subject to ruling of the Committee on Contests.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Nominations
The traditional roll call of the states, which permits delegates to promote their home states, took place on Tuesday, August 28, 2012, the first full day of the convention.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Nominations
Paul Ryan was nominated for vice president by voice vote.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers
The original plan called for speeches on Monday, but due to Tropical Storm Isaac most of the Monday program was cancelled and all the main speakers were rescheduled to speak later at the convention.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers
Ron Paul was offered a speech slot, under the conditions that the Romney campaign could pre-review his remarks and that he would fully endorse Romney. Paul declined the offer, saying that he remained an "undecided voter". Paul explained that "It wouldn't be my speech. That would undo everything I've done in the last 30 years. I don't fully endorse him for president." Instead, a tribute video to Paul was shown at the convention.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers served as the official convention host, speaking at the start of each night of the convention to provide the theme of the speeches for each evening.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers
The most coveted speaking slot that was intended to close the Monday night program of the convention was scheduled to go to Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's wife. But since the major television networks had opted out on Monday's primetime coverage (prior to Monday's cancellation of activities), her speech was moved to Tuesday, August 28 after 10:00 pm EDT, when broadcast networks began coverage, with an introduction by Lucé Vela Fortuño, the First Lady of Puerto Rico. Ann Romney's task in her speech was described by Lois Romano of Politico as "to try to accomplish what the sharpest minds in Republican politics have failed to do: present her stiff and awkward husband as a likable guy."


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers
Other August 28 speakers included Governors John Kasich (Ohio), Nikki Haley (South Carolina), Bob McDonnell (Virginia), and Mary Fallin (Oklahoma).


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers, Monday, August 27
Due to Tropical Storm Isaac, the scheduled activities on Monday were postponed or canceled; RNC Chairman Reince Priebus called the convention to order at 2:00 pm on Monday and started a debt clock in the arena, before putting the convention into recess at 2:10 pm.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers, Tuesday, August 28 - Ann Romney and Chris Christie
On Tuesday afternoon, the bulk of the Maine delegates walked out of the convention in protest of the decision to replace 10 Ron Paul delegates with 10 Romney delegates. This action by the RNC came in response to a takeover of Maine's Republican State Convention by Paul supporters which resulted in Paul's percentage of delegates being doubled over the percentage of delegates to which he would have been entitled by the caucus vote count; the additional ten delegates came at the expense of Romney.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers, Tuesday, August 28 - Ann Romney and Chris Christie
Originally scheduled to speak at the closing of Monday night's program, Ann Romney spoke in front of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, August 28, 2012. Romney started off by stating that her speech was not about politics or party, but about love. She spoke about her husband, Mitt Romney, in an attempt to present her husband as likeable and relatable, responding in part to his opponents' depiction of him as an out-of-touch elitist.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers, Wednesday, August 29 - Paul Ryan
Wednesday saw a speech from vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan. The accuracy of some of Ryan's statements was widely challenged by the media, fact-checkers, and political opponents. The Associated Press criticized Ryan for taking "factual shortcuts", and the speech was criticized in other outlets for being "misleading" and "dishonest". The most widely challenged portion of Ryan's speech occurred when Ryan criticized Obama for supposedly claiming, at a 2008 campaign appearance at a GM plant in Janesville, Wisconsin (which was slated for closure), that he (Obama) would keep that plant open if he became president.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers, Wednesday, August 29 - Paul Ryan
GM began a phased plant closing for the Janesville facility during the 2008 presidential campaign, laying off nearly all of its 1,200 workers on December 23, 2008. 57 workers remained employed at the plant during final assembly and another 40 to 50 in the decommissioning of the plant. On September 19, 2011, GM reported that the Janesville plant was on standby status, as part of a contract between itself and the UAW.


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers, Thursday, August 30: Eastwood, Rubio and Romney
Actor and director Clint Eastwood made a planned surprise appearance at the convention, speaking at the top of the final hour. He spent much of his speech time on a largely improvised routine addressing an empty chair representing President Obama. In at least two instances, Eastwood implied the President had uttered profanities directed both at Romney and Eastwood. Eastwood's remarks were well-received within the convention hall, but responses were mixed in the media. Film critic Roger Ebert commented "Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic. He didn't need to do this to himself. It's unworthy of him". Comedian Bob Newhart, who had popularized empty-chair interviews in the 1960s, tweeted in his deadpan humor style, "I heard that Clint Eastwood was channeling me at the RNC. My lawyers and I are drafting our lawsuit".


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Speakers, Thursday, August 30: Eastwood, Rubio and Romney
Thursday night concluded with Romney's acceptance speech. He announced that if elected, a Romney administration energy policy would take "full advantage of our oil and coal and gas and nuclear and renewables". Romney also joked about the Obama administration's policies on climate change, saying "President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet", a line which elicited laughter from the convention audience. By way of contrast, Romney continued "MY promise...is to help you and your family."


2012 Republican National Convention, The convention, Invocations and blessings
Besides Rabbi Soloveichik, another five religious leaders were scheduled to provide blessings or invocations, including the Rev. Sammy Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Ishwar Singh of the Sikh Society of Central Florida; Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; Ken and Priscilla Hutchins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (to open); and Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan. Dolan gave the closing prayer.


2012 Republican National Convention, Protests
In October 2011, Tampa city officials began planning for anticipated protests, and discussions centered around small prior protests by the Occupy movement. According to former Tampa City Council member John Dingfelder, then the senior staff attorney for the mid-Florida office of the American Civil Liberties Union, the convention should expect to draw far more protestors and the city should plan on up to 10,000. Dingfelder encouraged the city to be proactive regarding where protests could occur and protestors could sleep. Tampa's Mayor Bob Buckhorn's response was "If they want a place to sleep, they can go home or to a hotel.... Just because they want to occupy something doesn't mean we are obligated to provide them with an opportunity to camp out in a public park or on a sidewalk."


2012 Republican National Convention, Protests
The city of Tampa has banned puppets from downtown during the convention, a decision which some puppet-makers say violates their civil liberties. Police claimed that puppets could be used to conceal weapons—at the 2000 RNC, police charged a group of puppet-makers in Philadelphia with conspiracy to resist arrest.


2012 Republican National Convention, Protests
On August 4, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) held a forum addressing what would be considered free speech during the Convention.


2012 Republican National Convention, Protests
In early August, the city announced plans to provide delegates and protestors alike with water and portable toilets.


2012 Republican National Convention, Protests
Various groups began demonstrating on July 27 in Tampa and Tallahassee as part of a one-month countdown to the convention, calling for "good jobs, healthcare, affordable education, equality and peace."


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates
This article contains lists of notable candidates for the United States Republican Party's 2012 presidential nomination.


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. In this table, those marked lighter grey were not featured in any televised debates that occurred while their respective campaigns were active; those marked darker grey were excluded from the majority of those same televised debates, but are notable for having debated with at least some of the televised candidates in other forums (usually online). Candidates with an asterisk after their withdrawal date subsequently sought the nomination of another party.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates
See results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries for more details about the outcome of the primaries.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Nominee
The withdrawal of candidate Rick Santorum on April 10, 2012, eliminated his main challenger and all but guaranteed him the nomination. Newt Gingrich's exit from the race on May 2 left him against Ron Paul and Fred Karger. His win in Texas on May 29 finally accumulated enough delegates to mathematically secure him the nomination. Romney was officially announced as the 2012 Republican presidential nominee on August 28, 2012. He was defeated by incumbent President Barack Obama in the general election on November 6, 2012.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Did not withdraw
Leading up to the convention, Ron Paul won bound pluralities of the official delegations from the states of Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, and Oregon (but not the Virgin Islands, despite winning the popular vote there). Due to disputes these were reduced to Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada; however, he additionally had nomination-from-the-floor-pluralities in the states of Oregon and Alaska, plus the Virgin Islands. Although he wasn't named the 2012 Republican nominee, he did not officially end his campaign or endorse nominee Mitt Romney for president. At the convention, Ron Paul received second place with 8% of the delegates.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Appeared on more than two primary ballots
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. He officially ended his campaign on May 2, and endorsed Mitt Romney. Gingrich received no delegate votes at the convention, having released his bound delegates to Romney.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Appeared on more than two primary ballots
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. He conceded the race to Romney later that day, though didn't fully endorse him until May 7. Santorum received nine delegate votes at the convention, coming in third behind Romney and Ron Paul, despite having officially released his bound delegates to Romney.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Appeared on more than two primary ballots
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. He received a total of 30,523 votes from Iowa New Hampshire, Tennessee, Michigan, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, California, and Puerto Rico, where he came in third place. On February 22, he withdrew from the Republican race to pursue nomination as a member of the Reform Party. Roemer received one delegate-vote at the convention.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Appeared on more than two primary ballots
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. He remained on the ballot in most states prior to Super Tuesday, and received 54,769 votes during the primary season. Perry received no delegate votes at the convention.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Appeared on more than two primary ballots
After winning the Ames Straw Poll, her candidacy collapsed and after coming sixth in the Iowa caucuses, she suspended her presidential campaign. After months of speculation, Bachmann endorsed Mitt Romney on May 3. She remained on the ballot in most states prior to Super Tuesday, and received 41,401 votes during the primary season, collecting two 'soft' delegates. Bachmann received one delegate vote at the convention.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Suspended or withdrew before the primaries, but appeared on at least three primary ballots
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. On April 17, 2012, he changed his endorsement to Mitt Romney. He remained on the ballot in a number of states, and has received 13,629 votes during the primary season. Cain received no delegate votes at the convention.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Appeared on only one primary ballot
Andy Martin, perennial candidate and birther activist of Illinois, declared his candidacy on December 29, 2010. He received 19 votes in New Hampshire and did not attempt to get his name on any other ballot. On April 25, 2012, Martin dropped his bid for the nomination and announced his intent to remain politically active within the race until the 2012 Republican national convention, at which point he endorsed nominee Mitt Romney.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Appeared on only one primary ballot
Stewart Greenleaf, Pennsylvania State Senator, signed up for the New Hampshire primary ballot on October 28, 2011. He received 24 votes there and did not attempt to get his name on any other ballot.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Filed with the FEC, but appeared on no primary ballots
Jimmy McMillan, perennial candidate from New York declared his candidacy on December 23, 2010. He stopped running as a Republican candidate on January 31, 2012, in an attempt to get his Rent Is Too Damn High Party on the New York ballot in November via lawsuit. On September 13, 2012, McMillan dropped out of the race in order to focus on his candidacy for the 2013 New York City mayoral election, and endorsed President Barack Obama.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Filed with the FEC, but appeared on no primary ballots
Thaddeus McCotter, U.S. Representative from Michigan, declared his candidacy on July 2, 2011. McCotter was in the July 20 TheTeaParty.net twitter-debate, along with Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Johnson, and Santorum, but was not invited to the two Iowa & California televised debates which occurred while he was running. McCotter dropped out of the race on September 22, 2011 (the day of the televised Florida debate—the third during his campaign—to which he also was not invited), and endorsed Mitt Romney. He received 35 votes at the Ames Straw Poll.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Filed with the FEC, but appeared on no primary ballots
Tim Pawlenty, former Governor of Minnesota, declared his candidacy on May 23, 2011. Pawlenty dropped out of the race on August 14, 2011, after a third-place finish at the Ames Straw Poll. He endorsed Mitt Romney for President on September 12, 2011. He received 2,293 votes, or 13.6%, at Ames, and two write-ins in the Caucus itself, as well as four in New Hampshire, for a total of six during the primary season.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Candidates, Filed with the FEC, but appeared on no primary ballots
Jack Fellure, perennial candidate from West Virginia, filed a presidential committee with the FEC on November 5, 2008. Fellure ended his campaign for the Republican nomination on June 22, 2011, after receiving the presidential nomination of the Prohibition Party.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Received speculation
The following people were the object of presidential speculation in media reports in 2011. This gallery does not include people who declined to run (see below).


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Received speculation
Eric Cantor (from Virginia)Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives Endorsed Mitt Romney


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Received speculation
Meg Whitman (from California)Dot com executive, 2010 nominee for Governor of CaliforniaEndorsed Mitt Romney


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Declined to run
The following people, who were speculated to be potential candidates for the Republican Party's presidential nomination clearly and unequivocally denied interest publicly, released Shermanesque statements, or declared candidacy for a different political office in 2012.


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Declined to run
Sharron AngleFormer Assemblywoman, 2010 nominee for US Senate from NevadaEndorsed Rick Santorum


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Declined to run
John R. BoltonFormer U.S. Ambassador to the United NationsEndorsed Mitt Romney


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Declined to run
John McCainU.S. Senator for Arizona and 2008 GOP Presidential nomineeEndorsed Mitt Romney


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Declined to run
Carl Paladino Real estate magnate and political activist from New YorkEndorsed Newt Gingrich


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Declined to run
David PetraeusDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency from New York


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Declined to run
Paul RyanU.S. Representative from WisconsinEndorsed Mitt Romney;Nominated for Vice President


2012 Republican Party presidential candidates, Speculative candidates, Declined to run
Donald TrumpReal estate developer and reality television personality from New YorkEndorsed Mitt Romney


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
A series of political debates were held prior to and during the 2012 Republican primaries, among candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in the national election of 2012. The first debate occurred on May 5, 2011, in Greenville, South Carolina, and was hosted by Fox News, while the last debate was held February 22, 2012, in Mesa, Arizona, and was hosted by CNN.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Debates
The following table includes more prominent venues involving several Republican presidential candidates. (Note: Clicking link at enumeration redirects to summary of debate below.)


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, May 5, 2011 – Greenville, South Carolina
The first Republican debate was at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina. It was broadcast live for 90 minutes on Fox News, FoxNews.com, and Fox News Radio. Most of the candidates who had announced their runs at that time participated in the debate, being Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum, making this debate the one with the fewest candidates present, with only five.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, May 5, 2011 – Greenville, South Carolina
Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls. Mitt Romney met the debate criteria, but rejected the invitation to appear in the debate. Newt Gingrich originally had planned to attend the debate, but did not meet additional criteria of forming an exploratory committee.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, May 5, 2011 – Greenville, South Carolina
The debate was moderated by Fox News anchor Bret Baier of Special Report with Bret Baier and several other Fox News contributors, including Juan Williams, Shannon Bream, and Chris Wallace.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, May 5, 2011 – Greenville, South Carolina
At the end of the debate, Fox News's online votes showed Ron Paul standing out from the other candidates, but businessman Herman Cain was the overwhelming choice of the Fox News focus group moderated by Frank Luntz.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, June 13, 2011 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
The second Republican debate was held at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire. It was broadcast live for 120 minutes on CNN, WMUR-TV, and CNN.com. Candidates making their first debate -- Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney—joined Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, June 13, 2011 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson, and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls. Several other then-potential candidates, including Jon Huntsman, Rudy Giuliani, and Sarah Palin declined to participate in the debate.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, June 13, 2011 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
The debate was moderated by CNN anchor John King of John King, USA and featured several other CNN contributors.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, June 13, 2011 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
Following the debate, attention was drawn to Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who announced she had filed with the FEC to run for President during the debate.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, August 11, 2011 – Ames, Iowa
The third Republican debate was held at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa, Fox News Channel, and The Washington Examiner. It was moderated by Bret Baier with questions from Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace and the Washington Examiner's Byron York and Susan Ferrechio. Baier and Wallace were praised for their moderation of the debate.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, August 11, 2011 – Ames, Iowa
It was broadcast live for two hours on Fox News and FoxNews.com. Candidates participating in the debate included Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman Jr.. It was the first debate appearance by Huntsman, and the final appearance by Pawlenty. Criteria for inclusion in the debate did not allow several other candidates, or potential candidates, to participate in the debate, including Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter and Fred Karger, who did not meet the polling criterion of at least 1% in 5 national polls.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, August 11, 2011 – Ames, Iowa
The debate was noted for the sparring between Bachmann and Pawlenty; Pawlenty criticized Bachmann for what he said was a lack of leadership, while Bachmann fired back that Pawlenty's support for cap and trade legislation and the individual mandate while governor of Minnesota made his record look like President Obama's. Gingrich criticized Wallace by saying he was asking "gotcha questions" instead of legitimate questions.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, August 11, 2011 – Ames, Iowa
Romney responded to criticisms that "Romneycare" (Massachusetts health care reform) was like "Obamacare" (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) by using a states' rights argument. Santorum said same-sex marriage is not a state issue because the 10th Amendment "does not give states the right to trample over moral law." Romney agreed that it is a federal issue, reasoning that people move to different states and that marriage is a status, not an activity that takes place within the walls of a state. Huntsman and Paul reiterated their support for civil unions.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, September 7, 2011 – Simi Valley, California
The fourth Republican debate was held at Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, sponsored by NBC News and Politico (but broadcast by MSNBC). It was moderated by Brian Williams, and was notable for being the first to include Texas Governor Rick Perry, who attracted attention for stating his belief that "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme"; he was applauded by the audience for his record of having executed 234 death row inmates.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, September 12, 2011 – Tampa, Florida
The fifth Republican debate was held at Florida State Fair Grounds in Tampa, Florida, sponsored by CNN and Tea Party Express. It was moderated by Wolf Blitzer, and was notable for being the first Tea Party debate in history. Rick Perry was booed by the audience for defending his use of an executive order to mandate young girls have the HPV vaccine, which he defended by saying, "I will always err on the side of life".


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, September 12, 2011 – Tampa, Florida
The debate also engendered controversy when Blitzer asked Ron Paul a hypothetical question about a young man who could afford health insurance but refused to purchase any and went into a coma. When Blitzer asked Paul "Congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die? ", a few audience members shouted "Yeah!"


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, September 22, 2011 – Orlando, Florida
The sixth Republican debate was held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, and was sponsored by Fox News Channel and Google. It was moderated by Chris Wallace, Bret Baier, and Megyn Kelly. The debate was only the second of the 2012 cycle to feature former governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico; he was also in the May 5, 2011 debate. This debate in particular was prominent as featuring the highest number of candidates in attendance; out of the ten major Republican candidates for the Presidential nomination, only former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty was absent, as he had already dropped out of the race at this point in time.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, September 22, 2011 – Orlando, Florida
The debate engendered controversy when a pre-recorded question fielded by Army Captain Stephen Hill from Iraq via YouTube, concerning whether any one of the candidates would reinstate the recently retired "Don't ask, don't tell" policy excluding openly gay soldiers like himself from the US military, elicited vocal booing from a few audience members; Santorum, whose turn it was to answer a question, stated that "I would say any type of sexual activity has no place in the military" after the booing had subsided, and was applauded by the audience for his response. Rick Perry drew criticism from the other candidates over the Texas DREAM Act, which provides discounts for tuition prices for the children of illegal immigrants. Perry's response, that the other candidates didn't "have a heart" was poorly received by conservatives.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, September 22, 2011 – Orlando, Florida
Perry's overall performance was criticised. His speech was so garbled that Mark Hemingway of the Weekly Standard asked if he had suffered a stroke, and Brit Hume of Fox News stated that Perry, "at a time when he needed to raise his game, I mean, he did worse, it seems to me, than he had done in previous debates."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, September 22, 2011 – Orlando, Florida
Gary Johnson, who lagged in polls and media attention, made headlines and became the most searched-for candidate on Google for several hours for a joke he made towards the end of the debate, saying, "My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel ready jobs than this administration."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, October 11, 2011 – Hanover, New Hampshire
The seventh Republican debate was held at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and was sponsored by Bloomberg and The Washington Post. It was moderated by Charlie Rose with Julianna Goldman and Karen Tumulty. As Rose described it: "This debate is different and distinctive. It is only about the economy. So we debate this evening about spending and taxes, deficit and debt, about the present and the future, about rich and poor, and about the role of government." Former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, was excluded from the debate.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, October 18, 2011 – Las Vegas, Nevada
The eighth Republican debate was held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was sponsored by CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference. It was moderated by Anderson Cooper. Jon Huntsman boycotted the debate, citing a scheduling spat between the Nevada Republican Party and the New Hampshire Republican Party over whose primaries would be held first. Gary Johnson was excluded from the debate because he did not meet CNN's eligibility requirements.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, October 18, 2011 – Las Vegas, Nevada
The debate was described as the most contentious thus far. The debate started with all the candidates criticizing the tax plan of Herman Cain ("9-9-9"), whose standing in national polls had recently improved considerably. Mitt Romney squared off separately with Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. Santorum attacked Romney over his health care reform initiative in Massachusetts, saying, "You just don't have credibility... your consultants helped Obama craft Obamacare." Romney replied "the Massachusetts plan... was something crafted for a state... if I'm president of the United States, I will repeal [Obamacare] for the American people".


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, October 18, 2011 – Las Vegas, Nevada
Perry, whose performance was seen as an improvement over past debates, attacked Romney because he hired a lawn service using illegal immigrants; Perry said, "The idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong on immigration is on its face the height of hypocrisy." Romney replied that after they found out the company used illegal immigrants, they let them go, criticising Perry's tuition credit for the children of illegal immigrants, adding that "If there's someone who has a record as governor with regards to illegal immigration that doesn't stand up to muster, it's you, not me.". Romney also remarked that upon discovering that illegal immigrants were working on his property, he told the contractor, "you can't have any illegals working on our property, that's... I'm running for office, for Pete's sake! I can't have illegals."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, November 9, 2011 – Auburn Hills, Michigan
The ninth Republican debate was held at Oakland University in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and was sponsored by CNBC and the Michigan Republican Party. It was moderated by Maria Bartiromo and John Harwood. It focused on the economy and was attended by Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, November 9, 2011 – Auburn Hills, Michigan
The defining moment of the debate came when Rick Perry said that he would abolish three government departments. He named the departments of Commerce and Education, but could not remember the Department of Energy. After struggling to remember the name of the last department, Romney offered "EPA? ", to which Perry agreed, before backing down when asked by moderator John Harwood if the EPA really was the department he was thinking of. When pressed as to what the third department was, Perry admitted that he could not remember, adding: "Sorry. Oops." The gaffe came to be known as the "Oops moment" and was called the "worst gaffe in US debate history", the "end of his campaign" and was widely mocked in the media. Perry would later be appointed Secretary of Energy in 2017.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, November 12, 2011 – Spartanburg, South Carolina
The tenth Republican debate was held at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, sponsored by CBS News, the National Journal, and the South Carolina Republican Party. It was moderated by Major Garrett and Scott Pelley. It was attended by Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. The debate focused on foreign policy and was dubbed the "Commander-in-Chief debate".


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, November 12, 2011 – Spartanburg, South Carolina
Rick Perry, who was looking to recover following his disastrous debate performance in Rochester, Michigan, alluded to the previous debate: moderator Scott Pelley began to ask him about his plan to abolish the Department of Energy and Perry interrupted, "Glad you remembered it". Pelley replied "I've had some time to think about it" and Perry quipped, "So have I", drawing laughter from the audience.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, November 12, 2011 – Spartanburg, South Carolina
Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich both said they would consider military action to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, a stance Ron Paul and Herman Cain disagreed with. Cain, Gingrich, Perry, Romney and Rick Santorum all supported sanctions against Iran, with only Paul and Huntsman opposing them. Cain and Bachmann supported the use of waterboarding whereas Paul and Huntsman opposed it, saying it was torture. Huntsman also called for American soldiers to be removed from Afghanistan, saying "this nation has achieved its key objectives."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, November 12, 2011 – Spartanburg, South Carolina
Perry stated that his foreign aid budget would start at $0 for all countries, including Israel. Bachmann and Santorum criticised him for suggesting that Pakistan should get no aid at all, with Santorum saying "we can't be indecisive about whether Pakistan is our friend. They must be our friend, and we must engage them as friends". Bachmann drew raised eyebrows for her claim that China's economy was growing because of its lack of a social safety net, saying "If you look at China, they don't have food stamps. They don't have the modern welfare state, and China's growing... And so what I would do is look at the programs that LBJ gave us with the Great Society and they'd be gone."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, November 12, 2011 – Spartanburg, South Carolina
Romney and Huntsman clashed over China, with Romney saying that America was in the middle of a trade war with China, who must be taken to the World Trade Organization over currency manipulation. Huntsman replied that China can't be taken to the WTO and starting a trade war with them would be bad for the American economy. The debate itself was criticised for not spending sufficient time on the Eurozone crisis, with only the very last question devoted to it, which only Huntsman was given the opportunity to answer.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, November 22, 2011 – Washington, D.C.
The eleventh Republican debate, focusing on national security, was held at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., sponsored by CNN, the Heritage Foundation, and the American Enterprise Institute, and aired nationally on CNN, CNN en Español, and worldwide on CNN International, CNN Radio and CNN.com. It was moderated by Wolf Blitzer and was attended by Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Herman Cain in his final debate appearance.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, November 22, 2011 – Washington, D.C.
Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman were given more opportunities to speak than in previous debates, with Paul clashing with Herman Cain and Rick Santorum over Iran and with Newt Gingrich over the PATRIOT Act. Mitt Romney and Rick Perry united over their opposition to $1 trillion of defence cuts but Gingrich and Huntsman said nothing should be taken off the table. Herman Cain was widely regarded to be a "loser", with "nothing of interest or insight to add on national security, and it showed". The debate itself was again criticised for there being no questions on the Eurozone and for China only being mentioned in passing.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, December 10, 2011 – Des Moines, Iowa
The twelfth Republican debate was held in Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and was sponsored by ABC News, WOI-DT, The Des Moines Register and the Iowa Republican Party. It was moderated by Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos. Candidates in attendance were Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. Jon Huntsman, Jr. was not invited as he did not meet the criteria.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, December 10, 2011 – Des Moines, Iowa
Newt Gingrich was attacked by all the other candidates, squaring off in particular with Mitt Romney. Romney mocked Gingrich's plan to build a lunar colony to mine minerals from the moon, saying that the real difference between the two of them was their backgrounds, saying "I spent my life in the private sector. I know how the economy works." Gingrich replied, "Let's be candid. The only reason you didn't become a career politician is you lost to Teddy Kennedy in 1994", which drew boos and laughter from the audience.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, December 10, 2011 – Des Moines, Iowa
Romney replied "If I'd have beaten Ted Kennedy I could have been a career politician, that's probably true. If I would've been able to get in the NFL like I hoped when I was a kid, I would have been a football star all my life too", which drew laughter and applause.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, December 10, 2011 – Des Moines, Iowa
Perhaps the most notable moment of the debate was a "rare error" from Romney when discussing Massachusetts health care reform with Rick Perry. After Perry repeated his assertion that Romney had deleted a line about individual mandates being a model for the nation from reprints of his book, Romney offered Perry a $10,000 bet that he had done no such thing, which Perry declined. Romney's offer was derided as being "out of touch" and "elitist".


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, December 10, 2011 – Des Moines, Iowa
Other commentators came to his defence, however, calling it a "non-story", remarking that "you have to say a large amount, because the point is that you know you're not going to lose it" and "I am willing to bet $10,000 that ordinary viewers barely even noticed Romney's bet until the punditocracy decided to make it the defining moment of the debate."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, December 15, 2011 – Sioux City, Iowa
The thirteenth Republican debate was hosted by Fox News and held in Sioux City, Iowa. It was moderated by Bret Baier alongside Neil Cavuto, Chris Wallace, and Megyn Kelly. Candidates in attendance were Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Michele Bachmann in her final debate appearance.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, December 15, 2011 – Sioux City, Iowa
After facing criticism for his offer of a $10,000 bet to Rick Perry in the previous debate, Mitt Romney was considered by one commentator to be back "at his very best". Once again, Newt Gingrich came in for criticism from all the other candidates, particularly from Michele Bachmann, with special focus given to his opinion of Government-sponsored enterprise and the $1.6 million he received from Freddie Mac. Gingrich responded that Bachmann's relationship with the facts was dubious.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, December 15, 2011 – Sioux City, Iowa
Ron Paul again clashed with Bachmann and Rick Santorum over foreign policy and Rick Perry expressed a desire to be "the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses". Bachmann claimed that after the previous debate, PolitiFact.com "came out and said that everything that I said was true", which prompted the fact-checking website to label her claim as "pants on fire", saying "that's simply not the case".


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
The fourteenth Republican debate was hosted by ABC News and WMUR-TV and was held at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire. It was moderated by Diane Sawyer, George Stephanopoulos and Josh McElveen. Candidates in attendance were Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Jr., Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
Rick Santorum, who was enjoying a surge in the polls following his narrow second-place finish in the Iowa Caucuses, clashed with Mitt Romney over comments he had made that the country didn't need a CEO or manager as President. Santorum said, "We need a leader... someone who, has the experience to go out and be the commander-in-chief... The commander-in-chief of this country isn't a CEO. It's someone who has to lead... being the president is not a CEO... You've got to lead and inspire."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
Romney responded, "I think people who spend their life in Washington don't understand what happens out in the real economy. They think that people who start businesses are just managers. The chance to lead in free enterprise is extraordinarily critical to also being able to lead a state, like I led in Massachusetts and, by the way, lead the Olympics. My experience is in leadership." Newt Gingrich then criticised Romney's record at Bain Capital, saying "I'm very much for free enterprise...


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
I'm not nearly as enamored of a Wall Street model where you can flip companies, you can go in and have leveraged buyouts, you can basically take out all the money, leaving behind the workers." Romney replied, "I'm not surprised to have The New York Times try and put free enterprise on trial. I'm not surprised to have the Obama administration do that, either. It's a little surprising from my colleagues on this stage."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
Ron Paul then clashed with Santorum and Gingrich. He called Santorum a "big government, big spending individual", citing Santorum's votes to raise the debt ceiling, for the No Child Left Behind Act, for the Medicare Modernization Act and against Right-to-work. Santorum replied, "I'm a conservative. I'm not a libertarian. I believe in some government. I do believe that... as a senator from Pennsylvania that I had a responsibility to go out there and represent the interests of my state."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
Moderator Josh McElveen asked Paul if he stood by comments that Gingrich was a "chicken hawk" for not serving in the military. When Paul said that he did, Gingrich said, "Dr. Paul has a long history of saying things that are inaccurate and false. The fact is, I never asked for deferment. I was married with a child. It was never a question." Paul replied, "When I was drafted, I was married and had two kids, and I went", which was greeted with applause.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
Romney got into a long discussion with moderator George Stephanopoulos over whether states have the right to ban contraception or whether that was trumped by a constitutional right to privacy. Romney said, "So you're asking, given the fact that there's no state that wants to do so and I don't know of any candidate that wants to do so, you're asking could it constitutionally be done? We can ask our constitutionalist here," gesturing to Ron Paul, which drew laughter and applause from the audience.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
The discussion continued until Romney grew frustrated at the repeated questioning and asserted, "States don't want to ban contraception. So why would we try and put it in the Constitution?... Contraception, it's working just fine, just leave it alone." Stephanopoulos later joked on The Colbert Report that he had a bet with fellow moderator Diane Sawyer that he could get Romney to say "contraceptions are working just fine". Jon Huntsman, in response to a question on civil unions, joked, "I'm a married man. I've been married for 28 years. I have seven kids. Glad we're off the contraception discussion."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
Other memorable moments from the "lively" debate came when Gingrich accused the media of bias for ignoring "anti-Christian bigotry"; Paul was asked whether he would rule out a third party bid for the White House and he responded that he wouldn't, saying "I don't like absolutes" but adding "I have no plans to do it. I don't intend to do it"; Rick Perry said that he would "send troops back into Iraq", adding "we're going to see Iran, in my opinion, move back in at literally the speed of light.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 7, 2012 – Goffstown, New Hampshire
They're going to move back in and all of the work that we've done, every young man that has lost his life in that country will have been for nothing because we've got a president that does not understand what's going on in that region" and Santorum said that "there are no classes in America."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 8, 2012 – Concord, New Hampshire
The fifteenth Republican debate was hosted by NBC News and Facebook and was held in Concord, New Hampshire. It was moderated by David Gregory. Candidates in attendance were Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Jon Huntsman, Jr. in his final debate appearance.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 8, 2012 – Concord, New Hampshire
Newt Gingrich attacked Mitt Romney on "pious baloney". He said that the only reason that Mitt Romney has not been a long time politician was because he always lost. Another stir up came from Jon Huntsman saying that Mitt Romney's attitude is one that is dividing this nation. Huntsman said that after he had been criticized by Romney for being Obama's ambassador to China. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney also got into an argument about the Super PAC advertisements that each had been putting out.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 16, 2012 – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
The sixteenth Republican debate was hosted by Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, and was held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was moderated by Bret Baier. Juan Williams also asked questions of the candidates. The candidates in attendance were Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum. This was Perry's final debate performance, and the last debate before the field was narrowed down to the eventual final four, which remained constant until the end of the debate cycle.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 19, 2012 – North Charleston, South Carolina
The seventeenth Republican debate was hosted by CNN and held in North Charleston, South Carolina, at 8pm EST. It was moderated by John King. Candidates in attendance were Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 19, 2012 – North Charleston, South Carolina
The debate is famous due to the fact that Newt Gingrich spent three minutes yelling at the moderator at the beginning of the debate after Gingrich was asked to respond to his ex-wife's claim that Gingrich had proposed an open marriage to her in 1999 while he had been carrying on an affair. Gingrich felt that the question was an extremely unfair way to begin a presidential debate and was an attempt to protect President Barack Obama. The incident resulted in a great amount of applause for Gingrich, and was widely broadcast on YouTube. It was also credited with raising Gingrich's support in South Carolina, leading to his win in that state's primary two days later.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 23, 2012 – Tampa, Florida
The eighteenth Republican debate was held in Tampa, Florida. Brian Williams of NBC moderated, assisted by political editor Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times and  political correspondent Beth Reinhard of the National Journal. Candidates in attendance were Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, January 26, 2012 – Jacksonville, Florida
The nineteenth Republican debate was held in Jacksonville, Florida. It was characterized by pointed and continual sparring between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Other candidates in attendance were Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Ron Paul made points consistent with his views on reducing war, national debt and spending, and Rick Santorum criticized Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for being part of big government.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Summaries, February 22, 2012 – Mesa, Arizona
The twentieth Republican debate was held in Mesa, Arizona, and broadcast on CNN. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul were considered by most political analysts to have performed best during this debate. Rick Santorum, having won the Colorado and Minnesota Republican caucuses as well the Missouri Republican primary two weeks earlier performed poorer than expected, while Mitt Romney, was widely praised for his performance. This was the last traditional debate of 2012.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Additional events
A list of less prominent multi-candidate events follows, including self-described candidate forums, two two-candidate "Lincoln–Douglas" style debates and a Twitter 'debate'.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Additional events
Wepolls hosted an alternative debate among the three candidates most often excluded from most of the other debates: Buddy Roemer, Gary Johnson and Fred Karger. It was held on December 15, 2011, at 11 pm EST.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Additional events
The second Fox News Republican Presidential Forum was hosted by Mike Huckabee (the first was aired on Fox News on 3 December 2011) on 14 January 2012 at 8 pm EST. Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum were present. Ron Paul was invited, but chose not to appear as he was campaigning in Nevada, in preparation for the Nevada Caucuses in February.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Cancelled Ion Television/Newsmax debate
Real estate developer and media personality Donald Trump was announced as moderator for a debate sponsored by Newsmax Media and broadcast on Ion Television, scheduled for December 27, 2011 in Des Moines, Iowa. The role of Trump, who very publicly considered running for president in the spring of 2011, as moderator attracted controversy as candidates and observers questioned the seriousness of Trump and whether he was doing it as a publicity stunt.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Cancelled Ion Television/Newsmax debate
Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were the only candidates to accept the invitation to participate. The campaigns of Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul both released statements declining the invitation. Ron Paul's campaign wrote, "Mr. Trump's participation will contribute to an unwanted circus-like atmosphere," while Jon Huntsman's campaign said in a statement, "We have declined to participate in the 'Presidential Apprentice' Debate with The Donald," alluding to the Celebrity Apprentice reality show for which Trump is host. Trump responded, "Few people take Ron Paul seriously and many of his views and presentation make him a clown-like candidate. I am glad he and Jon Huntsman, who has inconsequential poll numbers or a chance of winning, will not be attending the debate and wasting the time of the viewers who are trying very hard to make a very important decision."


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Cancelled Ion Television/Newsmax debate
Mitt Romney announced on December 6 that he also would not be attending the debate. On December 8, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann announced they would not be attending either. Furthermore, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said that a debate moderated by Trump would be problematic.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Cancelled Ion Television/Newsmax debate
Speaking about the host, Santorum said, "I'm not defending Newsmax's decision to put Donald Trump in there. If you look at the [CNBC] debate where Jim Cramer is screaming at people – maybe Donald will surprise us both." On December 13, Trump withdrew as moderator and the debate was canceled.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Complaints of bias
Throughout the early debates, there have been a wide range of complaints about the various criteria hosting organizations have used to determine which candidates are allowed in the debates.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Complaints of bias
David Weigel of Slate magazine coined the term the "Gary Johnson Rule" (or the "Anti- Gary Johnson Rule") to refer to the deliberate construction of rules by 2012 presidential debate organizers to include eight specific, pre-determined candidates while excluding others. The phrase refers specifically to the various rules created to outline who will be allowed to participate in the 2012 GOP presidential debates. Variations of these rules have been used to exclude Johnson from all but two debates during the 2012 presidential cycle and to completely exclude other candidates.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Complaints of bias
On November 15, Gary Johnson's campaign filed an official complaint with the FEC and FCC over exclusion from the November 12th CBS Debate, claiming that his exclusion shows media favoritism. According to the complaint, free publicity provided by a media outlet on public airwaves may be considered a political donation if not equally distributed between candidates running for office. On December 28, Gary Johnson announced that he was ending his quest for the Republican nomination and would instead seek the Libertarian nomination, citing his exclusion from the debates as one reason for doing so.


2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums, Complaints of bias
After the CBS/National Journal debate in Spartanburg, South Carolina, both the Bachmann and Paul campaigns issued statements alleging bias from the debate.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
Voters of the Republican Party elected state delegations to the 2012 Republican National Convention in presidential primaries. The national convention then selected its nominee to run for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential election. There were 2,286 delegates chosen, and a candidate needed to accumulate 1,144 delegate votes at the convention to win the nomination. The caucuses allocated delegates to the respective state delegations to the national convention, but the actual election of the delegates were, many times, at a later date. Delegates were elected in different ways that vary from state to state. They could be elected at local conventions, selected from slates submitted by the candidates, selected at committee meetings, or elected directly at the caucuses and primaries.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
The primary contest began in 2011 with a fairly wide field. Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and the runner-up in the 2008 primaries, had been preparing to run for president ever since the 2008 election, and was from early on the favorite to win the nomination. However, he lacked support from the party's conservative wing and the media narrative became: "Who will be the anti-Romney candidate?" Several candidates rose in the polls throughout the year. However, the field was down to four candidates by February 2012: Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, former Governor Romney and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum. It was the first presidential primary to be affected by a Supreme Court ruling that allowed unlimited independent expenditures to support or oppose candidates through super PACs.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
Three different candidates won the first three contests. Santorum, who had been running a one-state campaign in Iowa, narrowly won in that state's caucuses by a handful of votes over Romney (who was thought to have won the caucuses before a recount). Romney won New Hampshire, but lost South Carolina to Gingrich. From there, Romney regained his momentum by winning the crucial state of Florida, while Santorum took his campaign national and carried three more states before Super Tuesday, while Romney carried seven states.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
Super Tuesday primaries took place on March 6. With ten states voting and 391 delegates being allocated, it had less than half the potential impact of its 2008 predecessor. Romney carried six states and Santorum three, while Gingrich won his home state of Georgia. Twelve more events were held in March, including all of the territorial contests and the first local conventions that allocated delegates (Wyoming's county conventions). Santorum won Kansas and three Southern primaries, but was unable to make any significant gains on Romney, who maintained a solid lead over all other contenders after securing more than half of the delegates allocated in the month of March.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
Santorum suspended his campaign on April 10, a week after losing Wisconsin and two other primaries to Romney. Gingrich followed suit on May 2, after the Republican National Committee (RNC) declared Romney the presumptive nominee on April 25 and put its resources behind him. On May 14, Paul announced that he would suspend funding the remaining primary contests and devote his resources to winning delegates at state conventions. He then won majorities in delegations of three states whose non-binding primaries had been in favor of other candidates.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
On May 29, Romney reached the nominating threshold of 1,144 delegates by most projected counts following his primary win in Texas and was congratulated by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus for "securing the delegates needed to be our party's official nominee at our convention in Tampa." With his subsequent victories in California and several smaller states, Romney surpassed a majority of bound delegates on June 5.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
Romney chose congressman Paul Ryan to be his running mate but they went on to lose the general election to incumbent President Barack Obama. Ryan later went on to serve a term as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and Romney was elected to the U.S. Senate from Utah in 2018.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates, Did not withdraw
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. Leading up to the convention, Ron Paul won bound pluralities of the official delegations from the states of Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, and Oregon (but not the Virgin Islands, despite winning the popular vote there). Due to disputes these were reduced to Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada; however, he additionally had nomination-from-the-floor-pluralities in the states of Oregon and Alaska, plus the Virgin Islands. Although he wasn't named the 2012 Republican nominee, he did not officially end his campaign or endorse nominee Mitt Romney for president. At the convention, Ron Paul received second place with 8% of the delegates.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates, Withdrew after the primaries
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. He came in 4th place with 1,893 votes in Puerto Rico, 1,180 votes in Michigan, 10 votes in Iowa, 345 votes in New Hampshire, 377 votes in Maryland, 6,481 votes in his home state of California, and 545 votes in Utah, amounting up to a total of 10,831 votes. He withdrew following a 5th-place finish in the Utah primary, which was the final primary of the 2012 cycle. Karger received no delegate votes at the convention.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates, Withdrew during the primaries
The following individuals participated in at least two presidential debates. They withdrew or suspended their campaigns at some point after the Iowa caucuses on January 3, 2012. They are listed in order of exit, starting with the most recent.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates, Declined to seek nomination
Real estate mogul and future U.S. President Donald Trump (declined May 6, 2011)


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race
The primary contests took place from January 3 to July 14 and elected and allocated 2,286 voting delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention in the week of August 27. To become the Republican Party's nominee for the 2012 presidential election a candidate needed a majority of 1,144 delegates to vote for him and plurality in five state delegations. The 2012 race was significantly different from earlier races. Many states switched from their old winner-take-all allocation to proportional allocation. Many remaining winner-take-all states allocated delegates to both the winner of each congressional district and the winner of the state. The change was made to prolong the race, giving lesser known candidates a chance and making it harder for a frontrunner to secure the majority early. It was also hoped that this change in the election system would energize the base of the party.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race
Most of the candidates started their campaigns in mid-2011, but after the first two primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, only four well-funded campaigns (Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, and Paul) remained for the Republican Party nomination; Gary Johnson had withdrawn to run on the Libertarian ticket, and Buddy Roemer sought the American Elect nomination. At the beginning of May, Gingrich and Santorum suspended their campaigns; Romney was widely reported as the presumptive nominee, with Paul the only other major candidate running an active campaign.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Beginning (2011)
The 2008 Republican National Convention decided that the 2012 primary schedule generally would be subject to the same rules as the 2008 delegate selection contests, but on August 6, 2010, the Republican National Committee (RNC) adopted new rules for the timing of elections, with 103 votes in favor out of 144. Under this plan, allocation of delegates to the national convention were to be divided into three periods:


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Beginning (2011)
Several states, most notably Florida, scheduled their allocating contests earlier than prescribed, and in response every traditional early state except Nevada pushed their contests back into January. As a result of their violation of RNC rules, these states were penalized with a loss of half their delegates, including voting right for RNC delegates. Despite having early caucuses, Iowa, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri were not penalized because their contests did not allocate national delegates.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Beginning (2011)
The start of the 2012 Republican race for president was shaped by the 13 presidential debates of 2011, which began on May 5. Gary Johnson and Buddy Roemer, both former Governors, were left out of most of the debates, leading to complaints of bias. On December 28, 2011, Johnson withdrew to seek the Libertarian Party nomination and on February 23, 2012, Roemer withdrew to seek the Reform Party and the Americans Elect nomination.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Beginning (2011)
Two candidates from the 2008 presidential primaries, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, ran again in the 2012 primary campaign. Mitt Romney was the early frontrunner, and he maintained a careful, strategic campaign that centered on being an establishment candidate. In the summer of 2011, Romney had a lead in polls and the support of much of the Republican leadership and electorate. However, his lead over the Republican field was precarious, and the entry of new candidates drew considerable media attention.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Beginning (2011)
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann started her campaign in June and surged in the polls after winning the Ames, Iowa, straw poll in August, knocking out former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, who both withdrew after their poor showings in the non-binding Straw Poll failed to revive their struggling campaigns. Bachmann's momentum was short-lived. The same day that the Ames Straw Poll was being held, Texas Governor Rick Perry was drafted by strong national Republican support. He performed strongly in polls, immediately becoming a serious contender, and soon displaced Bachmann as Romney's major opponent.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Beginning (2011)
Perry in turn lost the momentum following poor performances in the September debates, and the third major opponent to Romney's lead, Herman Cain, surged after the sixth debate on September 22. In November, Cain's viability as a candidate was seriously jeopardized after several allegations of sexual harassment surfaced in the media. Although Cain denied the allegations, the fallout from the controversy forced him to suspend his campaign on December 3, 2011.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Beginning (2011)
In November, as Herman Cain's campaign was stumbling, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich rose in the polls and asserted himself as the fourth major opponent to Romney. Gingrich had come back from serious staff problems in his campaign just weeks after he had entered the race in May that had seemingly derailed his campaign for the nomination. But in the weeks before the Iowa caucus, Gingrich's new-found lead began to quickly evaporate as super PACs sympathetic to Mitt Romney and others spent over $4.4 million in negative advertising targeting the former Speaker.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Beginning (2011)
With Gingrich's support faltering, Ron Paul surged to the lead in Iowa. Rick Santorum, who despite spending months traveling to all 99 counties in Iowa and holding some 381 town hall meetings, was polling in the single digits in Iowa as late as December 18. However, in the final weeks of 2011, Santorum positioned himself as the prime opposition to Romney with his staunch socially conservative views.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Beginning (2011)
On the eve of the January 3, 2012 Iowa Caucus, the first real contest of the primary season, Paul, Santorum and Romney were all viewed as possible winners.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Early states (January to March)
In 2012 there were 13 state contests before Super Tuesday, seven caucuses and 5 primaries. Missouri had a nonbinding straw poll in the form of a primary. Santorum spent months in Iowa, traveling to all 99 counties and holding some 381 town hall meetings. This one state campaign succeeded when he tied with Romney in the Iowa Caucuses on January 3. This first in the nation caucus propelled him into a national campaign while it ended Michele Bachmann's campaign.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Early states (January to March)
On the night of the caucuses, Romney was reported the winner of Iowa by only eight votes over Santorum, but after the results were certified, Santorum was declared the winner, beating Romney by 34 votes, despite the results from 8 districts being lost. Newt Gingrich said after Iowa that his positive campaign had been a weakness, and had allowed his rivals to gain the upper hand through negative attacks paid by super PACs supporting them.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Early states (January to March)
Mitt Romney easily won the next contest, New Hampshire, his win seen as a given. Romney had persistently shown popularity in that state, but rivals were intensely fighting for a second-place finish there. Jon Huntsman, Jr., a moderate, had staked his candidacy on New Hampshire and invested heavily in at least a strong second place showing, but after 150 campaign events in the state he ended third after Paul. Both he and Rick Perry dropped out of the race shortly before voting day in South Carolina and the two delegates allocated to Huntsman became unbound.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Early states (January to March)
Romney was expected to virtually clinch the nomination with a win in South Carolina, but Gingrich, from neighboring Georgia, waged an aggressive and successful campaign winning all but one of the state's congressional districts. The Gingrich victory in South Carolina, together with two strong debate performances, gave him a second surge, opening the race to a longer and more unpredictable campaign.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Early states (January to March)
Romney did regain some of his momentum in the next two weeks and won the Florida primary and the Nevada caucuses. However, the race shifted again on February 7, when Santorum swept all three Midwestern states voting that day. By doing so he made a case for himself as the 'Not-Romney' candidate and disrupted Romney's narrative as the unstoppable frontrunner.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Early states (January to March)
Following his victories on February 7, Santorum received a huge boost in momentum as conservatives seeking an alternative to Romney began leaving Gingrich for Santorum. Numerous polls taken after Santorum's victories showed him either leading Romney nationally or close behind. To regain momentum Romney shelved his "no straw polls" policy and actively campaigned to win the CPAC straw poll, which he won with 38 percent to Santorum's 31 percent. He also campaigned in Maine, beating Ron Paul by only three percentage points.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Early states (January to March)
Regaining momentum Romney won the remaining four states. The candidates campaigned heavily in Michigan, and even though Romney won the state vote, he won only 7 out of 14 congressional districts, the rest going to Santorum. The allocation of two at-large delegates in the state was before the election was reported to be given proportionally. After the election Michigan GOP officials announced there had been an error in the memo published and that the two delegates would be given to the winner, sparking accusations of Romney rigging the results from Santorum's team. After thirteen contests the GOP field for the presidential nomination was still wide open.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Early states (January to March)
† The state did not allocate any delegates at its primary election, they were elected later.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Super Tuesday (March 6)
Super Tuesday 2012 took place March 6 when the most simultaneous state presidential primary elections was held in the United States. This election cycle's edition of Super Tuesday, where 17.1 percent of all delegates was allocated, was considerably smaller than the 2008 edition, where 41.5 percent of all delegates was allocated (twenty-one states with 901 delegates). In 2012 delegates were allocated in primaries in seven states and their sixty five congressional districts together with binding caucuses in two states.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Super Tuesday (March 6)
North Dakota did not allocate any delegates at their caucuses, but had a consultative straw poll that the NDGOP leadership was required to use as a basic for making a party recommended slate of delegates. The persons on this slate was elected delegates at the April 1 state convention. According to Santorum and Paul supporters the slate was not as required based on the straw poll, but gave Romney a large majority of the delegates. The elected delegates have stated that they will divide up in such a way they reflect the caucus result, even if that means to vote for a candidate other than the one they support.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Super Tuesday (March 6)
Romney secured more than half of the delegates available on Super Tuesday but did not secure his status as the inevitable nominee. Gingrich pursued a "southern strategy", winning his home state of Georgia, and even though Santorum carried 3 states, he did not win them with a large enough margin to secure his status as the Not-Romney candidate. In the weeks leading up to March 6, both Gingrich and Santorum experienced ballot problems. The biggest issue was failing to appear on the Virginia primary ballot, leaving that race to Romney and Paul. With only two candidates on the ballot, Paul won 40 percent of the votes and carried one of Virginia's eleven congressional districts.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Super Tuesday (March 6)
Santorum had also failed to submit full or any delegate slates in nine of Ohio's congressional districts making him unable to win all delegates in those districts. The state became the big battleground of Super Tuesday and its delegates were split between Romney and Santorum, who won three congressional districts where he didn't have a full slate. This created four unallocated delegates, whose status was to be determined later. But Santorum suspended his campaign before the meeting in the Ohio GOP central committee deciding on the delegates took place and Romney dropped the dispute on May 4 in the interest of party unity.


2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, Timeline of the race, Mid-March
After Super Tuesday all five territories had their contests. Puerto Rico held a primary and the four smaller insular areas (Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and U.S. Virgin Islands) had convention style caucuses where no straw polls were taken, therefore our table does not show popular vote percentages in these rows but the number of delegates committed to each candidate. Romney secured all but two delegates from the territories. Of the six selected delegates from the Virgin Islands, one was elected as uncommitted, and another bound to Paul.