Stepping up to the GOP nomination

Interactive:
Track delegates, state-by-state

To win the 2012 Republican nomination, a candidate needed more than half of the 2,286 delegates. In recent years, a clear winner typically emerged earlier in the race. But the race took longer this year -- mainly because of new rules aimed at preventing one candidate from amassing a huge delegate lead before most states had a chance to vote.

SOURCE: AP, staff reports. GRAPHIC: Todd Lindeman, Aaron Blake, Sisi Wei and Karen Yourish - The Washington Post. Published Feb. 13, 2012.

Note: The graph above shows all delegates as awarded by their state's primary or caucus. While some RNC delegates have told the Associated Press which candidate they support, their votes are only shown in the graph if their state primary or caucus has already passed.