2016 Republican presidential primary

Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016

← 2012 February 1 – June 7, 2016 2020 →
2,472 delegates to the Republican National Convention 1,237 delegate votes needed to win
Candidate Donald Trump Ted Cruz Home state New York Texas Delegate count 1,441 551 Contests won 41 11 Popular vote 14,015,993 7,822,100 Percentage 44.9% 25.1%   Candidate Marco Rubio John Kasich Home state Florida Ohio Delegate count 173 161 Contests won 3 1 Popular vote 3,515,576 4,290,448 Percentage 11.3% 13.8%
First place by first-instance vote   Donald Trump (37)   Ted Cruz (11)   Uncommitted (4)   Marco Rubio (3)   John Kasich (1)
First place finishes by delegate allocation   Donald Trump (35)   Ted Cruz (11)   Uncommitted (4)   Marco Rubio (3)   John Kasich (1)   Tie (2)
First place finishes by convention roll call   Donald Trump (46)   Ted Cruz (7)   Marco Rubio (2)   John Kasich (1)
Previous Republican nominee Mitt Romney Republican nominee Donald Trump

Mitt Romney

Donald Trump

The 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries and caucuses were a series of electoral contests taking place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories, occurring between February 1 and June 7. Sanctioned by the Republican Party, these elections are designed to select the 2,472 delegates to send to the Republican National Convention, who selected the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election, Donald Trump. The delegates also approved the party platform and vice-presidential nominee.

A total of 17 major candidates entered the race starting March 23, 2015, when Senator Ted Cruz of Texas was the first to formally announce his candidacy: he was followed by former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson of Florida, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, businesswoman Carly Fiorina of Virginia, former Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, outgoing Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Governor John Kasich of Ohio, former Governor George Pataki of New York, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, former Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, businessman Donald Trump of New York and Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin. This was the largest presidential primary field for any political party in American history.