Santorum Ends 364-Day White House Bid

Santorum's presidential campaign lasted two months longer than Tim Pawlenty's and Rick Perry's combined

As late as November 2011 Rick Santorum would likely not be on anyone's list of the last four Republican presidential candidates remaining in the race come April.

The former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator's remarkable underdog run to win 11 states and become the chief anti-Romney challenger surprised many in his ability to outlast other more well-funded campaigns like Rick Perry and Herman Cain and outperform others like Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.

The seven previous Republican candidates who ended their White House bids are a mixed bag of politicians who burned through their money too early (Tim Pawlenty), flamed out during the debates (Rick Perry), failed to sustain early momentum (Michele Bachmann), departed due to scandal (Herman Cain), or never caught on fire to begin with (Thad McCotter, Jon Huntsman).

Santorum outlasted them all - running on a (comparatively) shoestring budget for most of the 364 days since he launched his presidential exploratory committee on April 13th of last year.

Since forming that committee, Santorum had the third longest run behind Newt Gingrich at 405 days (and counting) and Mitt Romney at 366 days (and counting). (Ron Paul launched his committee 351 days ago).

Since officially announcing his presidential candidacy on June 6, 2011, Santorum had the fourth longest campaign at 310 days behind Gingrich (336), Paul (334), and Romney (314).

Jon Huntsman's campaign lasted 210 days from the day of his formal campaign announcement, with Herman Cain coming in at 197 days, Michele Bachmann at 192, Rick Perry at 160, Tim Pawlenty at 84, and Thad McCotter at 83.

Length of 2012 Republican Presidential Campaigns

Candidate	Exploratory	Announced	Exited	# Days 1	# Days 2
Thad McCotter	July 1, 2011	July 2, 2011	September 22, 2011	84	83
Tim Pawlenty	March 21, 2011	May 23, 2011	August 14, 2011	147	84
Rick Perry	N/A	August 13, 2011	January 19, 2012	160	160
Michele Bachmann	June 13, 2011	June 27, 2011	January 4, 2012	206	192
Herman Cain	January 12, 2011	May 21, 2011	December 3, 2011	326	197
Jon Huntsman	May 3, 2011	June 21, 2011	January 16, 2012	259	210
Rick Santorum	April 13, 2011	June 6, 2011	April 10, 2012	364	310
Mitt Romney	April 11, 2011	June 2, 2011	Still in race	366	314
Ron Paul	April 26, 2011	May 13, 2011	Still in race	351	334
Newt Gingrich	March 3, 2011	May 11, 2011	Still in race	405	336

Note: Through April 10, 2012.

Santorum's bid was also longer than Gary Johnson's 252-day run as a Republican candidate and Buddy Roemer's 218-day run.

Johnson and Roemer are now seeking the Libertarian and Americans Elect nominations respectively.

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