On March 23, 2015, Ted Cruz officially kicked off the Republican presidential primary by entering the race. “I believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of America,” Cruz told students in a speech at Liberty University.
On May 3, 2016, Cruz dropped out of the race, after getting the support of millions of voters — many of them conservative — but not enough to win it. The next day, John Kasich dropped out, too, leaving just one candidate in the GOP field: presumptive nominee Donald Trump, who entered the race on June 16, 2015.
In between Cruz’s speech and Kasich’s departure, 14 other candidates entered and exited the GOP race. Each time (with a few exceptions; sorry, Jim Gilmore) we marked the occasion with a profile of the candidate’s campaign. At each campaign’s start, we assessed its chances; when it ended, we looked back at what went wrong. Let’s rewind the wild 13-and-a-half months of the Republican presidential race:1
John Kasich (3.8 million votes)
- Entered on July 21, 2015: John Kasich: A Jeb Bush In Jon Huntsman Clothing
- Exited on May 4, 2016: The Long, Weird Kasich Campaign Gives In To Reality
Ted Cruz (7.3 million votes)
- Entered on March 23, 2015: Let’s Be Serious About Ted Cruz From The Start: He’s Too Extreme And Too Disliked To Win
- Exited on May 3, 2016: Ted Cruz Stands Down
Marco Rubio (3.5 million votes)
- Entered on April 13, 2015: The Official 2016 GOP Field Gets Its First Real Contender: Marco Rubio
- Exited on March 15, 2016: Marco Rubio Never Had A Base
Ben Carson (732,000 votes)
- Entered on May 3, 2015: Two Background Players Join The 2016 Fray: Carly Fiorina And Ben Carson
- Exited on March 4, 2016: Republicans Liked Ben Carson To The End (But Not Enough To Vote For Him)
Jeb Bush (277,000 votes)
- Entered on June 15, 2015: Pols And Polls Say The Same Thing: Jeb Bush Is A Weak Front-Runner
- Exited on Feb. 20, 2016: Jeb Bush’s Path To Defeat Began A Year Ago
Jim Gilmore (3,000 votes)
- Entered on July 29, 2015
- Exited on Feb. 12, 2016
Chris Christie (57,000 votes)
- Entered on June 30, 2015: Chris Christie’s Path Will Only Get Steeper From Here
- Exited on Feb. 10, 2016: Why Chris Christie Failed
Carly Fiorina (38,000 votes)
- Entered on May 4, 2015: Two Background Players Join The 2016 Fray: Carly Fiorina And Ben Carson
- Exited on Feb. 10, 2016: Carly Fiorina Peaked Early And Faded Fast
Rand Paul (65,000 votes)
- Entered on April 7, 2015: Rand Paul Is Losing His Father’s Base
- Exited on Feb. 3, 2016: Goodbye, Rand Paul; Goodbye, GOP Dovishness
Rick Santorum (17,000 votes)
- Entered on May 27, 2015: Rick Santorum’s 2016 Bid Shows Just How Far The GOP Field Has Come
- Exited on Feb. 3, 2016
Mike Huckabee (50,000 votes)
- Entered on May 5, 2015: Huckabee May Be Doomed To Rerun His 2008 Campaign In 2016
- Exited on Feb. 1, 2016
George Pataki (2,000 votes)
- Entered on May 28, 2015: Why George Pataki’s Candidacy Is Virtually Hopeless In Two Charts
- Exited on Dec. 29, 2015: George Pataki’s Hopeless Campaign, In One Chart
Lindsey Graham (6,000 votes)
- Entered on June 1, 2015: Lindsey Graham May Have Already Won
- Exited on Dec. 21, 2015: Lindsey Graham Tries To Stop Trump The Only Way He Can — By Quitting
Bobby Jindal (200 votes)
- Entered on June 24, 2015: Bobby Jindal Should Have Run In 2012, Not 2016
- Exited on Nov. 17, 2015: Why Bobby Jindal’s Candidacy Failed
Scott Walker (no votes)
- Entered on July 13, 2015: Scott Walker Wants To Cure His Party Of Its Weakness For Moderates
- Exited on Sept. 21, 2015: Scott Walker Blew His Last Chance: The Debate
Rick Perry (no votes)
- Entered on June 4, 2015: Rick Perry Fell Harder Than Anyone — And He’s The First To Try Again
- Exited on Sept. 11, 2015: Rick Perry’s Failed Presidential Aspirations, In One Chart