Mitt Romney Wins Michigan

After a week in which the polls seemed to suggest the possibility of disaster, Mitt Romney managed to pull off a victory in Michigan:

Mitt Romney won the Michigan Republican primary on Tuesday, beating back a tough challenge by Rick Santorum in Romney’s birth state. By winning, he grabs momentum going into next week’s Super Tuesday contests.

With 87.6% of Michigan precincts counted, Romney led 41% to Santorum’s 38%. Ron Paul had 12% and Newt Gingrich 7%.

Romney appeared to win with large support in metro Detroit, outweighing Santorum’s lead in other parts of Michigan. Romney also won Arizona’s primary earlier in the night.

A loss in Michigan was seen as a potential disaster for Romney, who has had trouble connecting with the most conservative voters in other states.

And it is the other states that will be the focus of attention for the next week. Of all the contests at stake, there’s probably none more important than Ohio. Given tonight’s victory, combined with the organizational and money advantages he already has, I don’t think anyone should be surprise to see a Romney victory in the Buckeye State a week from now.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , , , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Gold Star for Robot Boy says:

    The Super Tuesday states, broken down by my picks for the winners:

    Romney: MA, OH, VT, VA

    Santorum: AK, ID, ND, OK, TN

    Newt: GA

  2. Gold Star for Robot Boy says:

    (wish we had the edit function back)

    Upon second thought, Idaho has a sizable Mormon population so give it to Romney.

  3. Brummagem Joe says:

    As at least I and I think Doug expected Romney won narrowly so he gets bragging rights but only roughly the same number of delegates as Santorum. It doesn’t change much (it wouldn’t have changed much if he’d lost narrowly) he remains the likely nominee but has certainly not achieved a knock out blow so this is going to drag on all spring which ultimately acts to drain energy and cash from his campaign. Personally I find it staggering that this guy is up against serious competition from Rick Santorum but there it is.

  4. Hey Norm says:

    3% in your “home state”?
    And you had to outspend your opponent 2:1 to do it?
    Romney wins and looks weak.
    Santorum loses and looks strong.

  5. Tsar Nicholas II says:

    A win is a win, they say, but for every day in which this circular firing squad continues Obama’s reelection chances creep higher. The related problem for Romney is that the demographic issues with which he’s been saddled in these primaries — overabundances of Bible bots and wing nuts — are not all of a sudden going to change. Even if Romney were to win big on Super Tuesday material percentages of the primary electorates in future states will continue voting against him, no matter what he does or says. On a related point, Santorum apparently thinks that God is willing him to continue; ergo he won’t drop out. Gingrich is treating this as a junket and a book selling tour; he might not drop out no matter how often he finishes a distant 3rd or a distant 4th.

    It’s a fiasco and it’s likely to get a lot worse before it gets any better.

    Barring a sharp spike in layoffs out there in the economy, in the late summer and early fall, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to postulate a realistic scenario in which Obama is not reelected. Thus if I were a betting man — which of course I am — I’d put Obama’s present chances of being reelected at least at 75%. Maybe even higher.

  6. JohnMcC says:

    @Tsar Nicholas II: Mr Romanoff, I see Intrade has Barack at only a 60.5% likelihood of re-election. You might like the split.