Tom considers himself a worthy candidate.

The Republican candidate won the election.

I will meticulously prepare careful plans to ensure that there is no case of trouble being caused by social media, no matter who becomes our candidate.

Tom is a nominee.

There was a lot of opposition, so the ministerial candidate was dismissed.

Saying that he personally thought it was better to delay the primaries, he suggested that the candidates meet to discuss [on whether to do so or not] and to accept the result [of the discussion].