U.S. Republican presidential candidates: Who's in so far

The 2016 U.S. presidential election is still more than a year away, but the race is already heating up.

Ted Cruz was the first to make it official, announcing his candidacy in late March. Since then, former candidates, newer names and long-established politicians have entered the fray.

The Republican Party has scheduled nine debates this year, with the first hosted by Fox News in August. Who exactly will appear on stage is not yet clear, but the party says both Fox and CNN, which will hold the second debate, have laid out their criteria.

Fox said its debate will feature candidates who meet several administrative tests andplace "in the top 10 of an average of the five most recent national polls, as recognized by FOX News."

Here's a roundup of the 17 Republicans who have declared they're running:

• U.S. Democratic presidential candidates: Who's in so far

Jeb Bush

Part ofthe Bush political dynasty and a former Florida governor, Jeb Bush entered the race on June 15, describing himself as a reformer whilevowing to changeWashington's direction on issues including foreign policy, the economy and the military.

But, notably, the 62-year-old son of former presidentGeorge H.W. Bush and younger brother of George W. Bushleft the family name out of his early campaign materials, going instead with a logo that simply said "Jeb!" in red letters. The nickname stems from the initials of his full name, John Ellis Bush.

Bush speaks Spanish andconverted to Catholicism after meeting his Mexican-born wife,Columba. Heserved two terms asgovernor of Florida, leaving office in 2007.

His campaign stresses his record on the Florida economy, disaster response, education andimmigration, though on some of those issues he parts company with theRepublican conservative base.

Bush has also made overturesto liberal voters,softening some of his moresocially conservativepositions on same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization.

Ben Carson

Ben Carson, a retired doctor who had a long careeras director of pediatricneurosurgeryat the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, kicked off his campaign to a cheering hometown crowd in Detroit in early May.With his wife, Candy,at his side, Carsonintroduced his family and talked about his mother's efforts to raise her kids as a single working parent.

Carson, who has drawn somesupport from the Tea Party movement, told the crowdhe thinks that government has expanded past its constitutional powers.

He told supporters hedoesn't want to get rid of safety nets "for people who need them," but that he does have "a strong desire to get rid of programs that create dependency in able-bodied people."

Carson is one of the most recent additions to the campaign, but he's already sparked controversy with remarks he made in the past, including comments about homosexuality being a choice,sayingObamacareis the worst thing since slavery and fora comment he made in an interview comparing the U.S. government to Nazi Germany.

Chris Christie

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came to the race later than many of his competitors,saying at his announcement,"I mean what I say and I say what I mean, and that's what America needs right now."

Christie, a 52-year-old second term governor known for being outspoken, has taken some flak from Republicans for working with Democrats in New Jersey. He's also faced controversy over the politically motivated2013 lane closureson the busiest bridge in America, which connects New York City and New Jersey. Christie has said he hadno knowledge of the closures.

Ted Cruz

Described by one of his Harvard law professors as "off-the-chartsbrilliant," junior Texas SenatorTed Cruz rocketed from thefringes of the Republicans' Tea Party wing to a legitimate (albeit long-shot)candidate in a few short years.Born in Calgary(althoughhe very publicly renounced his Canadian citizenship last year), Cruz was the first to announce his intentions to run for president on March 23at Virginia'sevangelicalLiberty University,a nod to his Christian values.

Cruz has studied the U.S. Constitution extensively, and argues it should remain unchanged.

"From the founding of our country, America has enjoyed God's providential blessing at every stage," he once toldtelevangelistJames Robertson. "When the declaration andconstitution were drafted, they were drafted on the knees of the founding fathers through prayer."

Cruz was a policy adviser to former president George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential election before going on to serve asTexas'syoungest and first Hispanic solicitor general. He is among the most outspoken opponentsofObama'shealth-care reforms, claiming they have resulted in massive job losses. Cruz is also highly critical of establishment Republicans, whom he has repeatedly calledthe "mushy middle."

A potential problem for Cruz during the nomination racecould be his highly vocal father, Pastor RafaelCruz, who has ahabit of making outlandish statements,such ascallingObamaa "tyrant"who should "go back to Kenya" and repeatedly referring to gay people as "sexual deviants."

CarlyFiorina

CarlyFiorina, best-known for a job she was fired from in 2005 CEO of the PaloAlto-based computer makerHewlett-Packardis seeking the nomination because, she says, the U.S. needs "to return to a citizen government."

She is trying to follow her father, JosephTyreeSneedIII, into politics. He was Richard Nixon's deputy attorney general.

After she was fired from Hewlett-Packard,Fiorinadidn't take another private-sector job. Instead, she ran for a U.S. Senate seat in California in2010. She lost by 10 points to Democratic opponent Barbara Boxer. Others in the Republican race are likely to point out she has not held elected office.

Fiorinajust published her second book,Rising to the Challenge: My Leadership Journey. Her first book,Tough Choices, came out in 2006.

Fiorinacalls herself a social conservative, except on the issue of constitutionally banning gay marriage. She's for smaller government and less regulation, and opposes government action on climate change.

She has called for the U.S. to arm Ukraine in its war with Russia-backed rebels. "I understand the world, who's in it, how the world works," she said on ABC'sGood Morning America, when she declared her candidacy.

Jim Gilmore

The former Virginia governor announced his bid for the White House on July 30, saying no other candidate had adequately addressed issues of national security and the economy.

Having grown up in a working-class household in Richmond, Va., Gilmore paints himself as a regular guy taking on established Washington elites. In a 1999 Washington Post profile, he touted his love for Pizza Hut and Miller Genuine Draft.

"I'm not a billionaire, the son of a former president, or a member of the Washington establishment. My dad worked at Safeway as a meat cutter. My mother was a church secretary," he said upon announcing his candidacy.

Gilmore, who briefly sought the 2008 Republican nomination before dropping out, served one term as Virginia's governor, from 1998 to 2002, and was the chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2001. Before that, he was the state's attorney general.

He is currently CEO of the conservative think-tank the Free Congress Foundation.

LindseyGraham

South Carolina SenatorLindseyGraham has been a mainstay of U.S. politics, serving in his current role since 2003. He was aU.S. air force reservist for 33 years and spentsix years onactive duty. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 after serving one term in his state's House.

The conservative is an interventionist who leads the charge for strong national defence and has been a vocal critic of the current president's foreign policy decisions. "Iran with a nuclear capability is the greatest threat the world will know in my lifetime," Graham told radio host Hugh Hewitt in February.

Graham has supported immigration reform that allows immigrants a pathway tocitizenship and he says climate change is an issue that needs addressing. Former Republican presidential nomineeJohnMcCainsaid of Graham: "I thinkLindseyhas vast and deep experience on these issues that very few others have," the Weekly Standard reported.

MikeHuckabee

Another candidate we've seen before in theRepublican field is MikeHuckabee.The 59-year-old former governor of Arkansas, who is making his second bid for the nomination, has been outspoken about his opposition to abortionand his support for traditional marriage.

"I will never apologize for my faith, my convictions or my values. Period," the former Fox News host and Baptist minister says on his campaignwebsite.

Huckabeeis also promising a "tax revolution" for Americans that "eliminates the IRS once and for all."

"With your help and God's, we will make that journey from Hope to higher ground," he told supporters in his hometown of Hope, Ark., which he shares with former president Bill Clinton.

BobbyJindal

BobbyJindal,the 44-year-old governor of Louisiana,was raised Hindu but converted to Catholicismas a teenager. His parents emigrated from the Punjab in India to Louisiana six months before he was born. Jindalwas a Rhodes scholar at Oxford.

He served in the House of Representatives from 2004 until becoming governor in 2008.

Jindalis expected to make religious beliefs and freedoms a focus of his campaign, The Associated Press reports.

John Kasich

The 63-year-old governor of Ohio declared his candidacy on July 21. The second-term governor and former congressman is known for his plainspeaking manner and unscripted personality. Afixture on Sunday talk shows and a one-timeFox Newscommentator, Kasich (pronounced KAY'-sik)ran for the presidential nomination once before in 2000.

Born in McKees Rocks, Pa., the son of a mail carrier and grandchild of Hungarian, Czech and Croatian immigrants, Kasichlaunched his political career in 1978by defeating an incumbent Democrat to become the youngest person elected to the Ohio Senate, at age 26. Helater served eight terms in Congress, and after a nearly decade-long interval workingasan investment executive and TV host,he waselectedgovernor of Ohio in 2010, where he earned a reputation for beingstrong-willed and often abrasive.

The man who once figuratively told lobbyists to get on his bus or he'd run them over and who called a police officer an "idiot" helped erase a budget deficit projected at nearly $8 billion USwhen he entered office, boosted Ohio's rainy-day fund to a historic high and saw private-sector employment rebound to its post-recession levelthrough a combination ofbudget cutting, privatization of parts of Ohio's government and other, often business-style innovations. He was re-elected in 2014 by a wide margin over his Democratic opponent.

The seeds of his political career, however, predate his time in Congress and the governor's office, having beenplanted duringhisfreshman year as a political science major at Ohio State Universityin 1970, when he audaciously wrote a letter that landed him a 20-minute audience with President Richard Nixon.

GeorgePataki

Another long-shot candidate is the three-term governor of New York, GeorgePataki. The 69-year-old has also served as mayor of his hometown ofPeekskill, N.Y., as a state assemblyman and as a state senator. He officially declared his candidacy on May 28.

Patakiholds more progressive views on social issues compared to his competitors. He ispro-choice on abortion and supportive of gay rights. He has said these issues are "a distraction" for his party and should be decided by individual states.

The former New Yorkgovernor has voiced his support for sending ground troops to fight the Islamic State. "Send in troops, destroy their training centres, destroy their recruitment centres, destroy the area where they are looking to plan to attack us here and then get out," he told CNN.

Rand Paul

Kentucky SenatorRand Paul isa wild card in the Republican nomination race. Like his father,former Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul, he is a staunch libertarian. More recently,he has distancedhimselffrom theuncompromising views of his father, who, for example, has advocated for the legalization of all drugs and abolishing the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Rand Paul's brand of libertarianism has ledto policy positions that couldappeal to voters across the spectrum. Paul says he woulddismantle Social Security, but also wants to legalize some drugs and revamp the criminal justice system. He would repealObamacare, but also claw back defence spending.

Much like the elder Paul did, he is campaigning on an anti-establishment bent. His campaign slogan is "Stand with Rand, Defeat the Washington Machine." According to an adPaul released before Hillary Clinton announced her intention to run, she represents "the worst" of D.C.'s elite.

MarcoRubio

FloridaSenatorMarcoRubiohas positioned his candidacy as one for a new generation of the American right.Thoughhe often aligns with the Republican base, the hawkishCuban-American is fluent in Spanish and has deep connections among FloridaLatinos, which could attract voters who havetraditionally resisted his party.

• Republican MarcoRubioannounces bid for presidency in Miami

Only 43 years old,Rubiopreviously served in the Florida House of Representatives and is considered aprotegof former Florida governor Jeb Bush. He was among the most influential senators to take part in a failed bipartisan effort to craft a far-reaching immigration reform bill thatwould have provided a pathto citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.Rubiohas since distanced himself from the bill.

Nonetheless, hispolitical narrative is largelydriven by his family's immigrant story his recent memoir is calledAmerican Dreamsand he's likely to present himself as the alternative to candidates deeply entrenched in the Washington establishment.

"I live in an exceptional country where the son of a bartender and a maid can have the same dreams and the same future as those who come from power and privilege," he said during his announcement speech in Miami on April 13.

RickSantorum

The socially conservative former Pennsylvania senator is making his second run for the White House.Santorumscored a surprising second-place finish for the presidentialnomination during the 2012 Republican primaries, beating heavyweights like NewtGringrichand overallwinner MittRomneyin 11 states.

The 52-year-old's 2012 successes were largely considered a result of having little competition for evangelical votes in early primary states like Iowa, where he toured all 99 counties in a pickup truck.

The 2016 Republican field is already filled with socially conservative candidates, however, andSantorumis expected to struggle to retain his place as the go-to candidate for so-called "family values"voters.

Some observers believeSantorum'slong-shot status may keep him out of the Republican debates entirely this time around.Only those who place in the top 10 of national polls will be allowed to participate in the first Republican presidential debate in August, andSantorumis on the bubble.

Donald Trump

Real estate mogul Donald Trump jumped into the fray on June 16, saying in a statement that he can't "sit back and watch this incompetence any longer."

Trump, who made the announcement in the Trump Tower in New York, touted his wealth and success in business and blasted politicians.

• Republican presidential candidate debates will be a challenge

"They are almost completely controlled by lobbyists, donors and the special interests they do not have the best interests of our people at heart," he said.

Scott Walker

Wisconsin GovernorScott Walker'snational profile is largely due to his clashes with labour unions.He enacted policies weakening their collective bargaining rights and theirpolitical power, then he became the first governor in U.S. history to defeat a recall election.

Possessing an extensive donor database following three governor's races since 2010, Walker is said to have a $20-million US war chest built up for his presidential bid.

Walker's also known fortax-cutting, opposing abortion and gun control and dodging a question about evolution.On the foreign policy front, he says his battles with labour unions haveprepared him to take on Islamic State.

Who's out

Rick Perry

On Sept. 11,Perry became the first candidate to drop outof the field of Republicans vying to become the next U.S. president in 2016.

The former Texas governor launched his presidential bid on June 4. The 65-year-old ran in 2012 and was an early favourite for the nomination but eventually dropped out due to low support during the primaries.

He began the longest-serving term as governor of Texas when he replaced George W. Bush in 2000, according to his officialwebsite. He's also served as lieutenant-governor, agriculture commissioner and in the state's House of Representatives.

He has repeatedly boasted aboutTexas's jobs growth record after he took over as governor, claiming on hiswebsitethat his state has since created athird of all new private sector positions in the U.S.

Perry also attracted some unflatteringattention when he wasn't able torecall the details of his planduring a debate in 2011.