# Exploratory Committee Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 20, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploratory-committee-question/720440 "2015-05-20T19:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploratory-committee-question/720440/1 "2015-05-20T19:30:06Z")
According to the [2016 US Presidential Candidates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2016) wiki page, there are eight potential candidates that have not formally announced their candidacy but have formed either an exploratory committee, a PAC, or a 527 organization. I took to Google to learn more about these exploratory committees et al. They basically seem like a way to raise funds and explore/promote public interest in the candidate, and are a relatively recent practice. But what I haven’t been able to find are any statistics showing how frequently a person who forms this committee goes on to publicly announce a candidacy. Does anyone else have any statistics? Or, if someone has been following presidential elections for a few cycles, could someone offer any insight as to what the likelihood is? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploratory-committee-question/720440/2 "2015-05-20T19:35:05Z")
I can tell you I’ve never heard of a candidate going that far who didn’t later announce. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploratory-committee-question/720440/3 "2015-05-21T13:31:01Z")
Okay thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploratory-committee-question/720440/4 "2015-05-21T15:32:20Z")
Fred Thompson did (formed an exploratory committee but never officially declared himself a candidate, that is.)