Endorsements in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries

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This is a list of notable political endorsements for declared candidates for the Republican primaries for the 2016 United States presidential election. Endorsements are part of the "invisible primary" process, which occurs not only long before the general election, but also largely occurs before even the caucuses and primaries have begun.

Early endorsements were correlated with the success candidates achieved in caucuses and primaries, for elections from 1980 through 2004.^[1][2] (See the UCLA School of Political Parties.) Historically, there has been a correlation ("76% of the eventual vote percentage")^[3] between the percentage of political endorsements from sitting and former elected officials earned by a Republican candidate in the first half of the year prior to a presidential election (for the purposes of this article, January–June, 2015), with the percentage of votes cast for that candidate in Republican primaries during the first half of the election year (i.e., January–June, 2016).

The value of political endorsements varies, depending on whom they are from, when they are given, and other factors. Endorsements from politicians who live in states with early primaries are highly sought after.^[4] So are endorsements from governors, federal senators, and federal representatives.^[3] Endorsements from people from the candidate's home state are less valuable, unless multiple candidates from that state are running.^[3] The impact of celebrity endorsements of political candidates is less clear, but can increase general election turnout,^[5] or increase fundraising totals and media exposure.^[6]