Romney wins home-state Massachusetts, Virginia and duels Santorum in Ohio

Published: Tuesday, March 06, 2012, 7:48 PM Updated: Tuesday, March 06, 2012, 7:57 PM
By The Associated Press

WINSLOW TOWNSON, The Associated PressFormer Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won as expected in Virginia and his home state.
WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney scored an easy primary victory in Virginia, seized the advantage in Vermont and had a home-state Massachusetts win in his pocket in the 10-state, Super Tuesday battle in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich countered with a home-field win in Georgia, while Rick Santorum and Ron Paul looked elsewhere for triumph — and Republican National Convention delegates — on the busiest night of the race to pick a rival to Barack Obama.

The featured race of the night was in Ohio, where Romney and Santorum dueled in a second industrial state showdown in as many weeks.

In line with states that held contests earlier in the year, a plurality of Ohio primary voters interviewed as they left their polling places said an ability to defeat Obama mattered most to them when it came time to choose a candidate. Not surprisingly, the economy was the No. 1 issue in a state where unemployment was measured at 7.9 percent in December.

In all, more than 400 delegates were at stake on the night, with primaries in Tennessee and Oklahoma as well as Virginia, Vermont, Ohio, Massachusetts and Georgia. Caucuses in North Dakota, Idaho and Alaska rounded out the calendar.

Gingrich's victory was his first since he captured the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21, and the former House speaker said it would propel him on yet another comeback in a race where he has faded badly over the past six weeks.

Obama, the man they hope to defeat in November, dismissed the almost-constant criticism of his foreign policy efforts and accused Republicans of "beating the drums of war" over Iran. "Those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities. They're not commander in chief," he said.

Ohio was the day's biggest prize in political significance, a heavily populated industrial state that tested Rick Santorum's ability to challenge Romney in a traditional fall battleground. Georgia, Newt Gingrich's home political field, outranked them all in the number of delegates at stake, with 76, a total that reflected a reliable Republican voting pattern as well as population.

Romney, the leader in the early delegate chase, flew home to Massachusetts to vote and said he hoped for a good home-state win. Overall, he added, "I think we'll pick up a lot of delegates, and this is a process of gathering enough delegates to become the nominee and I think we're on track to have that happen."

He also took issue with Obama, saying, "I think all of us are being pretty serious" about Iran and its possible attempt to develop nuclear weapons.

Gingrich, hoping for a victory in Georgia, effectively acknowledged he had scant Super Tuesday prospects elsewhere. Instead, he was pointing to primaries next week in Alabama and Mississippi, and he told an audience, "With your help, by the end of next week we could really be in a totally new race."

Romney led in the delegate hunt as polls opened. He had 203 in The Associated Press count, while Santorum had 92, Gingrich 33 and Paul 25. It takes 1,144 to win the nomination at the Republican National Convention this August in Tampa, Fla.

Romney wins home-state Massachusetts, Virginia and duels Santorum in Ohio | PennLive.com