Santorum out of GOP race for the White House

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Amy Hodges
713-348-6777
amy.hodges@rice.edu

HOUSTON — (April 10, 2012) — Rick Santorum announced today that he is suspending his bid for the GOP presidential nomination. With Santorum out, has Mitt Romney sealed the deal for the nomination? Rice University political scientist Mark Jones is available to discuss the current status of the Republican race for the White House.

“For all intents and purposes, today marks the end of the Republican presidential nomination process,” Jones said. “Mitt Romney is now the GOP’s de facto candidate to face President Barack Obama in November.”

Jones noted that the lack of a relevant presidential contest will without a doubt result in lower turnout on May 29 in the Texas GOP primary than would have been the case had Santorum stayed in the race.

Jones, chair of political science at Rice and a fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is often quoted nationally about American and Texas politics and has been closely following the GOP race.

To speak with Jones, contact him directly at 832-466-6535.

To see previous comments from Jones regarding the 2012 presidential election, visit www.nationalmedia.blogs.rice.edu. The site will continue to be updated with news releases, commentary, media appearances and news articles during the campaign.

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This release is available online at…

Related materials:

Jones’ opinion piece about Perry for the Texas Tribune titled “Perry as a (Very Conservative) Democrat.” The article puts into context Perry’s political affiliation and career in Texas.

In June, Jones penned a story titled “Rick Perry and the Republican Presidential Nomination” for the Baker Institute’s blog on the Houston Chronicle’s website. Jones writes about Perry’s fiscal and social policies in Texas and how they might play in a national run against other candidates for the GOP nomination.

Following Perry’s victory in last year’s Texas gubernatorial election, Jones analyzed the governor’s successful primary and general election campaigns for the Austin American-Statesman. The article, “How Perry dominated his re-election races,” highlights aspects of Perry’s campaign tactics, which the governor’s team would likely replicate in his presidential bid.

Links embedded above:

http://bakerinstitute.org/personnel/fellows-scholars/mjones

http://nationalmedia.blogs.rice.edu/

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/2012-presidential-election/guest-column-perry-as-a-very-conservative-democrat/

http://blog.chron.com/bakerblog/2011/06/rick-perry-and-the-republican-presidential-nomination/

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/insight/how-perry-dominated-his-re-election-races-1147835.html

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is known for its “unconventional wisdom.” With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 4 for “best value” among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. To read “What they’re saying about Rice,” go to www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/Rice.pdf.