There are 196 people running for president
When Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) launched his campaign yesterday, Business Insider and other news outlets noted he was the first top tier candidate to begin an official bid. However, Cruz was far from the first person to throw his hat into the ring.
A total of 196 people in the U.S. have already filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to run for president in 2016.
These longshot candidates include President Emperor Caesar of Florida, Sydneys Voluptous (sic) Buttocks of New York, and Hrm Caesar St Augustine De Bonaparte of California. The group is made up of 55 Republicans, 30 Democrats, 51 Independents, and the remaining 60 are either associated with smaller movements like the Libertarian Party, the American Party, the Green Party, or claim no party affiliation at all.
The National Journal first reported the bounty of candidates already in the race and surmised that "the pool of unknowns who file to run for president trends toward the eccentric and, occasionally, the paranoid."
The website contacted some of the hopefuls listed on the FEC website, to inquire about the status of their campaigns.
"I don't do phone calls. Goodbye," one reticent candidate, Larry Scarborough of California, told the magazine when asked for comment.
But an Ohio candidate running on the Libertarian ticket, anesthesiologist Marc Allan Feldman, was more willing to talk.
"It's a pretty low bar," he said about the relative ease he had registering his candidacy.
His wife said the couple's friends have grown excited over the Facebook buzz generated for his campaign.
"They want to know if we're getting a party bus!"