The presidential primaries are the selection processes in which voters choose their nominee for President of the United States. The Democratic Party does not need to hold a primary for the 2012 election because President Barack Obama is the Democratic incumbent. The Republican Party, however, needs to decide which candidate will be chose to run against President Obama for the next presidential term.
The four main Republican candidates were:
- Mitt Romney: former Governor of Massachusetts
- Newt Gingrich: former House Speaker
- Ron Paul: U.S. Congressman
- Rick Santorum: former U.S. Senator
These four men became the primary Republican candidates as a result of popularity polls throughout 2011. Each candidate believes they are the best person to be the next President and they formed campaign committees to raise money in support of their campaign efforts.
The goal of the primaries is to select the most qualified candidates as decided by a series of state primary elections. Only citizens that are registered to vote as Republican in their respective state may vote in the Republican primary elections. The first two contests were in Iowa and New Hampshire. Santorum won by a narrow margin in Iowa and Romney won New Hampshire. Gingrich won South Carolina. Super Tuesday primaries took place on March 6th. Super Tuesday refers to a Tuesday in February or March of a Presidential election year where the greatest number of states hold primary elections.
There were six other dates in March where the Republican primary elections took place; and there are two in April, four in May, and two in June. As it stands now. Mitt Romney is the front runner, as Rick Santorum has suspended his campaign.