Ted Cruz (44): The Texas senator and Tea Party favourite was the first to throw his hat into the ring on March 23. A committed Southern Baptist, Cruz has been outspoken about religious freedom, both at home and abroad, and has taken a strong stance against same-sex marriage. He is currently seeking to introduce legislation to protect each state's right to make its own decision on the issue.

He was given a warm reception at last year's Values Voter Summit; the conference, hosted by the Family Research Council, is usually seen as an early indicator of conservative support for presidential candidates, and Cruz won the most support (25 per cent) in the poll at the end of the weekend.

Speaking of his personal faith in a 2013 interview with CBN News he said: "At the end of the day, faith is not organized religion; it's not going to a church. It is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour."

But although he rarely shies away from mixing his faith and politics, he said it was important for politicians "to avoid being a Pharisee, to avoid ostentatiously wrapping yourself in your faith, because I think in politics, it's too easy for that to become a crutch, for that to be politically useful."

His father, Pastor Rafael Cruz, is director of Purifying Fire Ministries – the ministry of Suzanne Hinn (wife of Benny). Cuban-born Pastor Cruz has compared Barack Obama's leadership approach to that of Fidel Castro, describing him as a Marxist who "seeks to destroy all concept of God".

Ted Cruz launched his campaign at Liberty University, Virginia, said to be the world's largest Christian university. It's safe to say he is gunning for the Christian vote. At the event he spoke of the "transformative love of Christ" that he has witnessed at work in his family, and kicked off his campaign with the rallying cry: "God's not done with America yet".