Mitt Romney 2008 presidential campaign

Mitt Romney for President 2008
Campaign	2008 United States presidential election
Candidate	Mitt Romney 70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003–2007)
Affiliation	Republican Party
Status	Announced February 13, 2007 Withdrew February 7, 2008
Headquarters	Boston, Massachusetts
Key people	Beth Myers (Manager) Carl Forti (Political Director) Matt Rhoades (Communications Director) Alex Castellanos (Senior Advisor)
Receipts	US$88.5[citation needed] (2007-12-31)
Slogan	True Strength for America's Future
Website
www.mittromney.com (archived - January 15, 2008)

This article is part of a series about Mitt Romney
Political positions Electoral history Business career Salt Lake Organizing Committee Public image Governor of Massachusetts Governorship 2002 election Health care reform Presidential campaigns 2008 Primaries Convention 2012 Primaries Convention Debates "Binders full of women" Election Endorsements Planned presidential transition U.S. Senator from Utah Turnaround No Apology Anti-Trump speech
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The Mitt Romney presidential campaign of 2008 began on January 3, 2007, two days before Mitt Romney left office as governor of Massachusetts, when he filed to form an exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission to run for President of the United States as a Republican in the 2008 election.^[1] Subsequently, on February 13, 2007, he formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008.^[2] He did so at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, as an emblem of American ingenuity.^[3]

Romney was considered a top-tier candidate in his bid for the Republican nomination, despite hurdles such as low name recognition and questions about his Mormon faith. Romney partly financed his campaign with his own personal fortune, having contributed over $35 million of the $90 million raised by his campaign.^[4] Despite that, he also raised more money than any other Republican primary candidate.

In a nationwide poll conducted on January 2, 2008, Romney placed first among Republican voters nationally.^[5] However, he came in second in the Iowa caucuses to Mike Huckabee. Romney followed up with his first win of the campaign season in the Wyoming caucus, although it received little media attention. He then lost the New Hampshire primary to John McCain, but won the Nevada caucuses with 51 percent of the vote, with Ron Paul in second place and John McCain third, and won the Michigan primary by 9 percentage points, leaving the nomination result up in the air. He then finished fourth in the South Carolina primary and finished second to McCain in the hotly contested Florida primary, a result which gave McCain the lead in delegates and the status of "frontrunner" heading in to Super Tuesday.^[6]

On February 7, 2008, two days after McCain posted strong gains in the Super Tuesday primaries, Romney announced the end of his campaign.^[7] A week later he endorsed McCain.