119 (and Rising) Different People Are Officially Running for President in 2012

On April 4th, 2011, President Barack Obama officially filed his papers and formally announced that he would be looking win a second term as President of the United States in 2012.

As of this moment, none of the "big" names from the Republican side have formally filed their papers. Mitt Romney has not made it official yet, although there is virtually no chance that he WON'T run in 2012. Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump - all three have their supporters, but none have made it official as of yet (and there is a good chance that all three will choose not to run next year).

While none of the "big" names (except for Obama, of course) have filed their papers as of yet, it may surprise you to learn that 118 other people have already filed.

That's right - as of this moment, 119 people (including Barack Obama) have filed their Statement of Candidacy (FEC Form 2) with the FEC to register as a 2012 Presidential Candidate.

According to the FEC, "under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), an individual becomes a candidate for federal office when:

-the individual has received contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 or made expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000

-the individual has given consent to another person to receive contributions or make expenditures on behalf of him or herself and that person has received contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000 or made expenditures aggregating in excess of $5,000 (11 CFR 100.3(a))"

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You can see a full list of all of the people who have formally announced their intentions to run for President in 2012 below:

Source: FEC.gov - 2012 Presidential Form 2 Filers