Mitt Romney won five Republican primaries, including Virginia, on Tuesday night while Rick Santorum also took three contests, including Tennessee, as the two leading GOP candidates continue to battle for the Republican nomination. Alaska was still undecided at press time.
Romney was also the comeback winner in Ohio after early returns put Santorum, who is running on a pro-life platform, ahead of Romney, who is also campaigning on a pro-life position. He led with 38 percent of the vote with 99 percent of precincts reporting, followed by Santorum with 37 percent, Newt Gingrich with 15 percent and Ron Paul with 9 percent. The Associated Press called the race.
Romney also won the Vermont and Massachusetts primaries and the Idaho caucus. Santorum was the victor in Oklahoma’s primary and the North Dakota caucuses. For Romney, an Ohio win may help him cement his front-runner status in the nomination battle and show he can carry a battleground state but Santorum promises to continue to contest every state.
“We’re going to win a few, we’re going to lose a few,” Santorum told supporters tonight in Steubenville, Ohio. “We’re going to get at least a couple of gold medals and a whole passel full of silver medals.”
Romney told backers in Boston tonight that “I stand ready to lead our party and I stand ready to lead our nation to prosperity.”
In Massachusetts, where Romney served as governor from 2003 to 2007, he had 72 percent of the vote, with 88 percent of precincts reporting. Santorum had 12 percent, Paul 10 percent and Gingrich 5 percent. In Vermont, with 61 percent of the precincts reporting, Romney had 41 percent, followed by Paul with 25 percent, Santorum with 24 percent and Gingrich with 8 percent.
In Tennessee, with 73 percent of precincts reporting, Santorum had 38 percent, Romney 28 percent, Gingrich 24 percent and Paul 9 percent. Meanwhile in Oklahoma, Santorum had 34 percent with 81 percent of precincts reporting. Romney had 28 percent, Gingrich 27 percent, and Paul 10 percent. Over in North Dakota, with 55 percent of precincts reporting, Santorum had 40 percent, Paul 27 percent, Romney 24 percent and Gingrich 9 percent. [related]
Newt Gingrich placed first in his home state of Georgia, but his ability to capture the nomination from the two leading contenders appears to be smaller and smaller as the former governor and senator amass more wins acros the country. In Georgia, with 81 percent of precincts reporting, Gingrich had 48 percent of the vote, followed by Romney with 25 percent, Santorum with 20 percent and Paul with 6 percent.
In Virginia, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had 59 percent to Paul’s 41 percent. Gingrich and Santorum weren’t on the ballot, having failed to meet the state’s petition-signature requirements.
