after leading a pack of minor candidates for much of 2010 and 2011, former massachusetts governor mitt romney, despite outmatching his opponents in both money and organization, struggled to hold on to his lead for the 2012 gop nomination. as the presidential campaign season headed toward the voting stage in january 2012, one candidate after another surged past romney, held the lead for a few weeks, then fell back. according to the realclearpolitics 2012 polling index, five candidates at one time or another were the top choice of gop voters: texas governor rick perry, motivational speaker herman cain, former speaker newt gingrich, former senator rick santorum and romney himself.