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.