Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry effectively dropped out of the presidential race Friday, ending his second White House bid the same way he did his first.
Perry was polling around 2 percent nationally, too low to get him into the varsity round of either of the first two Republican debates. That’s a far cry from where he sat at this point in the last election cycle.
As the above chart shows, Perry entered the 2012 Republican primary as a contender. He was leading in the polls before he self-immolated and was forced to quit the race with just a few percentage points of support. He entered the 2016 primary just about where he left off in 2012 and never really gained any traction.
The 2016 Republican primary field is now down to a lean 16 candidates (that’s counting former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore).
Farewell, Gov. Perry, it’s been fun.