How We Got Here: Trump's Rise by the Numbers
— -- Now that Donald Trump seems to have finally done it, many will be asking themselves how.
As the last man standing in the GOP race, the real estate mogul and reality TV star defied the forecasts of pundits, who almost unanimously dismissed his chances as soon as he rode down that escalator to deliver his campaign-launch speech at Trump Tower in June.
While the reasons for his success will continue to be debated, the numbers are undeniable. Trump captured 40 percent of all votes in GOP primaries and caucuses, from Iowa to Indiana, according to ABC News' vote tallies. His nearest competitors, Ted Cruz (27 percent), John Kasich (14 percent), and Marco Rubio (13 percent) trailed well behind.
Trump amassed 10.6 million votes. Cruz, his nearest competitor, totaled 7.2 million. Kasich (3.7 million) and Rubio (3.4 million) were the only other candidates to surpass 1.7 million votes.
Several candidates lost out, in the end, to "uncommitted." Some states allowed GOP-primary voters to cast ballots for "uncommitted" or "no preference," instead of selecting a candidate, and once the GOP's crowded field was whittled down by March, early-exiting candidates lost ground to that category. The 75,000 "uncommitted" votes topped Chris Christie (24,000), Rand Paul (10,381), Carly Fiorina (15,000), Mike Huckabee (3,500), and Rick Santorum (1,900).
Trump captured momentum early with a strong showing in Iowa and an early string of victories. He would hold onto that momentum through the GOP's primary days involving multiple states. Except for March 6 (Maine), March 12 (D.C.), and April 5 (Wisconsin), there wasn't a single voting day where Trump failed to capture more votes than any other candidate across all states that held primaries or caucuses.
Trump's biggest day of domination came in New York, where he won with over 60 percent. A week later, when Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island voted, Trump won nearly 57 percent of all votes cast.
As that red line stayed above the others, Trump captured enough momentum to all but seal the nomination with a final blow in Indiana.
