--- title: 2016 Presidential Dropout Campaign Spending description: As the 2016 presidential race moves closer to November's general election, the list of presidential contenders has now dwindled to six canonical: https://time.com/4248600/2016-presidential-candidate-drop-outs/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-05T00:08:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:49:35.758Z article:section: Politics og:title: See What the Presidential Dropouts Spent on Their Campaigns og:description: Out of an initial pack of 23 candidates, just six remain og:url: https://time.com/4248600/2016-presidential-candidate-drop-outs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a4ddef3c88f7874/698880560b72e3de9b6e86b1/2016-candidate-dropout.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Republican Candidates Take Part In Debates At Reagan Library In Simi Valley og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See What the Presidential Dropouts Spent on Their Campaigns twitter:description: Out of an initial pack of 23 candidates, just six remain twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a4ddef3c88f7874/698880560b72e3de9b6e86b1/2016-candidate-dropout.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See What the Presidential Dropouts Spent on Their Campaigns > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ad01fce8-b661-4ee2-b58a-2214e30588d1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: See the Presidential Candidates Who Dropped Out [Watch (HLS stream): See the Presidential Candidates Who Dropped Out](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8SZZaLdh.m3u8) (1:25)  _Published 2016-03-04_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 5, 2016 12:08 AM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 5, 2016 12:08 AM UTC As the 2016 presidential race moves closer to selecting party nominees for November’s general election, the list of presidential contenders that once included an ambitious 23 people has now dwindled to six. Retired neurosurgeon [Ben Carson on Friday became the latest candidate to drop out](http://time.com/4246524/ben-carson-drops-out-of-race/) of the race, leaving just four people in a Republican primary that once included 17 candidates. Donald Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich remain. On the Democratic side, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are the two candidates remaining after failed bids by Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee, Lawrence Lessig and Jim Webb. Take a look at the candidates who dropped out most recently and how much their campaigns spent, from Chafee’s $400,000 to Carson’s $53.7 million. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:02] We [00:04] need [00:06] to [00:08] be [00:10] for a progrowth economic plan. Today, [00:14] I'm formally entering the race with Democratic [00:17] nomination for President. Coming with an idea. And [00:19] that idea is America. America. [ APPLAUSE ] Veterans [00:21] should be getting the first [00:27] fruits of our treasury, not the last of them. No one [00:30] would deny that the economy is no longer in a free fall, [00:33] and yet a few of us would say that the economy is [00:35] working great for us. That I am putting myself forward [00:38] as a candidate For president of the United States of [00:41] America. [ APPLAUSE ] We're at a point in this nation's [00:44] history, we're at a pivotal point in this election. If I'm [00:47] the nominee, I guarantee she will not get within 10 [00:49] miles of the White House. And I decided I'm a [00:52] candidate for president of the United States of [00:53] America. [ APPLAUSE ] I'm Ben Carson and I'm a [00:56] candidate for president [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4248600/2016-presidential-candidate-drop-outs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4248600/2016-presidential-candidate-drop-outs/"},"headline":"See What the Presidential Dropouts Spent on Their Campaigns","datePublished":"2016-03-05T00:08:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:49:35.758Z","description":"Out of an initial pack of 23 candidates, just six remain","url":"https://time.com/4248600/2016-presidential-candidate-drop-outs/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a4ddef3c88f7874/698880560b72e3de9b6e86b1/2016-candidate-dropout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a4ddef3c88f7874/698880560b72e3de9b6e86b1/2016-candidate-dropout.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican Candidates Take Part In Debates At Reagan Library In Simi Valley","caption":"Republican Candidates Take Part In Debates At Reagan Library In Simi Valley","creditText":"Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4248600/2016-presidential-candidate-drop-outs/","name":"See What the Presidential Dropouts Spent on Their Campaigns"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See the Presidential Candidates Who Dropped Out","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8SZZaLdh/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-03-04T23:47:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8SZZaLdh.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4248600/2016-presidential-candidate-drop-outs/","duration":"PT1M25S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4248600/2016-presidential-candidate-drop-outs/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```