The field of actual and potential top-tier Republican presidential candidates may be thinning, but the number of hopefuls you never heard of keeps growing at the rate of nearly one a day, Eric Ostermeier reports at Smart Politics.
As of Friday, 239 Americans had submitted statements of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission. Since mid-August, they’re been coming in at the rate of almost one a day.
The field includes 103 candidates who said they’re running as Republicans, 43 independents, 31 third-party hopefuls, 36 people who listed no affiliation and 26 Democrats–including Barack Obama, who filed April 4.
