According to this story, Rand Paul is about to drop out of the Republican presidential race.
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Eleven governors (past or present) sought a major party presidential nomination for the 2016 election, but eight of them have either dropped out or stopped trying to get on presidential primary ballots. By contrast, eight U.S. Senators (past or present) sought a major party presidential nomination, and only three have dropped out. Four Senators (past or present) are doing very well.
The eight governors who declared, and then dropped out or stopped trying to get on ballots, are governors or ex-governors of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Maryland, and New York. The only governors or ex-governors still in the race for a major party nomination are those from Florida, New Jersey, and Ohio (and none of them are doing very well).
The only U.S. Senators who have dropped out are Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, and Jim Webb. Senators or ex-Senators still in the race are Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Rick Santorum.
Among the three major party presidential candidates who have never held elective office but who are prominent enough to have been included in debates, all three are still running (Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina).
Another ex-Governor who is still running, but who is not seeking a major party nomination, is Gary Johnson, seeking the Libertarian nomination.
On February 2, Hillary Clinton filed approximately 70,000 signatures to get on the New York Democratic presidential primary ballot. The deadline is February 4. Bernie Sanders is expected to file on February 4.
Republicans don’t need petitions to get on the New York Republican presidential primary ballot.
Filing for the West Virginia presidential primaries closed on Saturday, January 30. Candidates qualify by filing fee of $2,500. The Democratic ballot will list six candidates and the Republican ballot will list eleven. The previous highest number of presidential candidates in a West Virginia Republican presidential primary had been eight.
The six Democrats are: Hillary Clinton, Rocky De La Fuente, Paul T. Farrell Jr, Keith Judd, Martin O’Malley, and Bernie Sanders. The eleven Republicans are: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, David E. Hall, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump.
Paul T. Farrell, one of the lesser-known Democrats, had not qualified in any other state’s presidential primary this year so far. He lives in Huntington, West Virginia.
All the major party presidential candidates who filed petitions to be on the Illinois presidential primary ballots have survived the challenge process. That includes six Democrats and eleven Republicans. The 2016 Illinois Republican presidential primary has never before had more than nine candidates.