The Republican Bragging Rights Primary

The Republican Presidential Primary may be all over except for the shouting and etch a sketching. But there is also the question of bragging rights. That is, who gets the most votes in the remaining primaries matters, even if it is only for the history books.

Second place rarely gets you the VP slot, the exception being George H.W. Bush in 1980. More frequently second place leads to first place in the next contested primary. Third place gets you nothing, except for Earl Warren who way back in 1952 got the U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justiceship.

For Mitt Romney the question is whether he finishes with a middling 7 or 8 million votes or can push that up to a more respectable 9 or 10 million votes. Also, with not quite half the vote in, it looks to be a close question whether total Republican turnout in 2012 will top 2008.

Year	Candidate	Votes
2012	Mitt Romney	4,070,110	+
2012	Rick Santorum	2,758,186	+
2012	Newt Gingrich	2,182,075	+
2012	Ron Paul	1,068,148	+
2008	John McCain	9,838,910
2008	Mitt Romney	4,681,436
2008	Mike Huckabee	4,281,900
2008	Ron Paul	1,163,078
2000	George W. Bush	12,034,676
2000	John McCain	6,061,332
2000	Alan Keyes	985,819
1996	Bob Dole	9,024,742
1996	Pat Buchanan	3,184,943
1996	Steve Forbes	1,751,187
1992	George H.W. Bush	9,199,463
1992	Pat Buchanan	2,899,488
1988	George H.W. Bush	8,253,512
1988	Bob Dole	2,333,375
1988	Pat Robertson	1,097,446
1980	Ronald Reagan	7,709,793
1980	George H.W. Bush	3,070,033
1980	John Anderson	1,572,174
1976	Gerald Ford	5,529,899
1976	Ronald Reagan	4,760,222
1968	Ronald Reagan	1,696,632
1968	Richard Nixon	1,679,443
1968	Jim Rhodes	614,492
1964	Barry Goldwater	2,267,079
1964	Nelson Rockefeller	1,304,204
1964	Jim Rhodes	615,754
1952	Robert Taft	2,794,736
1952	Dwight Eisenhower	2,050,708
1952	Earl Warren	1,349,036
1952	Harold Stassen	881,702

+ 2012 results are incomplete with more voting to come.

In 1952 and 1968 when fewer states held primaries, it was possible to win the nomination without the highest popular vote. But it's been 44 years since the last brokered convention.