The 2012 Republican presidential dropouts: Where are they now?

by Josh Lederman - 04/22/12 9:00 PM ET

The six major GOP candidates who dropped out of the presidential race may be gone, but they aren’t altogether forgotten.

Rick Perry is wading into a Senate primary in Texas. Herman Cain is crisscrossing the country supporting candidates who have embraced his 9-9-9 tax plan.

{mosads}Tim Pawlenty, the first major candidate to call it quits, has been an active Mitt Romney surrogate, while Rick Santorum, the most recent candidate to bow out, has been playing it coy.

Michele Bachmann is still on the campaign trail, but this time her goal is not the presidency but reelection to the House from Minnesota, where she faces opposition from multiple candidates.

Speaking to a meeting of GOP leaders Friday in Scottsdale, Ariz., Romney, now the de fact nominee, commended each of his current and former opponents by name.

“Some [are] still running, some have gotten out of the race, but each contributed to the process,” Romney said. “Each is going to play a vital role in making sure we win in November.”

Just half of the candidates who have dropped out of the race have endorsed Mitt Romney, while the rest have endorsed Newt Gingrich or remain on the fence.

Here’s a look at what each candidate has been up to since dropping out of the race:

Pawlenty | Perry | Huntsman
Cain | Bachmann | Santorum

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty

alt Once considered a top contender for the GOP nomination, Pawlenty bowed out in August after an unimpressive showing in the straw poll in Ames, Iowa.

One month later, he endorsed Romney, and has been a loyal ally ever since, frequently speaking on Romney’s behalf and encouraging the GOP establishment to get behind the man from Massachusetts.

Romney and his supporters returned the favor by helping Pawlenty retire his campaign debt, which totaled more than $400,000 when he left the race.

Pawlenty has also been floated as a possible vice-presidential pick for Romney.

Pawlenty | Perry | Huntsman
Cain | Bachmann | Santorum

Texas Gov. Rick Perry

alt Perry endorsed Newt Gingrich when he dropped out in January following poor showings in the first two primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

It was radio silence for Perry for the next few months as he returned to work in Texas. But in April, dipped his toe back in the political arena, backing his lieutenant governor, David Dewhurst, in Texas’s hotly contested GOP primary to replace retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R).

And on Wednesday, Perry said he’s eyeing a second bid for the White House in 2016.

“I love this country. As long as my health stays good, as it is, and my family is supportive, I’m certainly going to give it a good examination,” Perry told the CBS affiliate in Dallas.

Pawlenty | Perry | Huntsman
Cain | Bachmann | Santorum

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman

alt Huntsman backed Romney when he pulled out of the race in January, but Romney was notably absent when the former Utah governor gave him his blessing.

Huntsman raised some eyebrows a month later when — despite his endorsement for Romney — he said the GOP lacked big ideas and called for a third party to fill the void.

“I think we’re going to have problems politically until we get some sort of third-party movement or some alternative voice out there that can put forward new ideas,” Huntsman said on MSNBC.

Huntsman had millions of dollars of debt when he exited the race, and finance records show he loaned his defunct campaign $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2012 to help close the gap. He still owes more than $1 million.

Pawlenty | Perry | Huntsman
Cain | Bachmann | Santorum

Herman Cain

alt Few presidential contenders have left the field under worse circumstances than Cain, who was chased out by sexual harassment allegations that quickly spiraled out of control.

Cain initially endorsed Gingrich, appearing with him on the campaign trail in Florida, but later switched his loyalties to Romney when it became clear the former Massachusetts governor had the nomination in the bag.

Reluctant to let his signature 9-9-9 tax plan go to waste, Cain has been urging congressional candidates to embrace his plan, then endorsing them when they agree to do so. The candidates to come on board with 9-9-9 have mostly been obscure — including long-shot Senate candidates in California, Pennsylvania and Florida — but former Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), who is challenging Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) in Michigan, has backed it.

Most memorable from Cain’s post-campaign activity has been the series of bizarre and unsettling videos his Cain Connections PAC has produced, including one where a rabbit is shot, and another where a chicken pecks a farmer to death and then eats him, ostensibly to emphasize a point about the dangers of big government.

Pawlenty | Perry | Huntsman
Cain | Bachmann | Santorum

Rep. Michele Bachmann

alt Bachmann never endorsed after dropping out, but some of her staffers went to work for Santorum. More recently, Bachmann has been speaking highly of Romney, telling NBC’s Meet the Press in April that she is “very seriously looking at an endorsement for Mitt Romney.”

Bachmann is up for reelection in November, and while she raised an impressive $550,000 in the first three months of 2012, she also has more than $1 million in debt leftover from her unsuccessful White House bid.

Bachmann’s home was redrawn into a left-leaning district with a Democratic incumbent during redistricting, but the Tea Party favorite opted to run instead in the open Republican-leaning district that resembled her old district. House members in Minnesota are not required to live in the district they represent.

A few Democrats are vying to take her on, including hotel magnate Jim Graves, who has the ability to self-fund his challenge.

Pawlenty | Perry | Huntsman
Cain | Bachmann | Santorum

Former Sen. Rick Santorum

alt Santorum is the big question mark among the ex-candidates for the GOP nod. Santorum was one of Romney’s harshest critics in the primary, and his repeated attacks on Romney’s conservatism would make it difficult for him to pull off an about face and endorse Romney.

Although Romney has signaled he is interested in meeting with Santorum to discuss an endorsement, so far there has been no such rendezvous. Santorum’s name has also been floated as a potential running mate for Romney, but the likelihood of that prospect appears to be small.

Still, Santorum is in solid shape to be a front-running candidate in 2016 if Romney loses in November, and he has been careful to make clear to conservatives that he’s a team player with the party’s best interests at heart.

“I pledge to you, I will be all-in between now and November to make sure we elect Republicans, conservatives up and down the ticket,” Santorum said.

Pawlenty | Perry | Huntsman
Cain | Bachmann | Santorum