The question of who Mitt Romney might pick as his vice presidential nominee has been dogging the news cycle for months, as pundits and political consultants alike have attempted to weigh just how much certain politicians can benefit the ticket – including, what kind of home states they can offer.

Now that it has been revealed that House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., will be joining the Romney ticket, the major question of the week is whether the nomination can help the GOP snag Wisconsin in November, a swing state that analysts have predicted may lean toward President Barack Obama. It’s hard to say how much weight a vice presidential nominee has in his or her home state, because there is no objective formula to determine how a candidate's popularly, approval rating and legislative history will actually impact voters.

According to a comprehensive analysis from The New York Times, major-party nominees for president since 1920 have carried their running mates home state 65 percent of the time, a statistic that crawled to a slightly-higher 72 percent in elections since World War II. But, the analysis found the benefit a vice presidential nominee adds to the presidential ticket is actually quite paltry, producing an average net gain of only two percentage points.

How many modern vice presidential nominees have been able to carry their home state? Click through to find out.

Joe Biden, a longtime senator from Delaware, did his part for the ticket in 2008 -- President Barack Obama won a resounding victory in the small state, with a 25 percent margin of victory.

Both of the vice presidential nominees pulled their weight in 2008. But John McCain won a solid victory in Palin's home state of Alaska that year, it may have had less to do with Palin and more to do with the state's GOP majority. In fact, the Bush-Cheney ticket won a larger percentage of the vote in 2004.

Then-Sen. John Edwards may have been born and raised in South Carolina, but his long history in the state ultimately didn't help John Kerry in 2004. It was won by incumbent President George W. Bush, who took the state with a 17 percent margin of victory.

Tennessee may traditionally be a red state, but President Bill Clinton was able to take it in both the 1992 and 1996 elections -- with the help of his vice president, a former Tennessee senator and congressman.

Jack Kemp was not only a professional football player -- he also represented New York's 31st congressional district from 1971-1989. But while the Republican congressman was popular in his district, that didn't help Bob Dole snag the state in the 1996 presidential election.

Dan Quayle may have helped President George H.W. Bush win his home state of Indiana during the 1988 and 1992 presidential elections, but probably not by much. Indiana -- which went for Bush in 1992, although President Bill Clinton ultimately took the election -- has a solid record of endorsing Republican candidates. In fact, it would remain a GOP state until 2008, when President Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win the state since 1964.