Romney wins Ohio, fails to shake off rivals
Source: Agencies |
March 8, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
REPUBLICAN presidential front-runner Mitt Romney won in six of 10 Super Tuesday states but managed only the narrowest victory over rival Rick Santorum in all-important Ohio, an outcome that leaves open the contest for the nomination to challenge United States President Barack Obama.
Santorum, the former senator, captured three states and Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, notched a victory in Georgia, the state he represented in Congress for nearly two decades.
The mixed results in the 10 state contests held on Tuesday suggest that Romney, despite padding his lead in the tally of delegates who will pick the nominee this summer, is still struggling to win over the Republican Party's most conservative elements.
Regardless, Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, predicted Romney will win the nomination because his rivals "have not demonstrated an ability to do what needs to be done" to lock down the nod.
Appearing on CNBC, Romney insisted he's "getting the kind of support across the party that I need to become the nominee."
"We've got the time and the resources and a plan to get all the delegates, and we think that will get done before the convention," Romney said.
Obama, who is vulnerable in his bid for a second term, has seen his approval ratings on the rise in recent weeks in tandem with increasing signs that the US economy is finally on track for a sustained recovery from the worst downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Romney's victory in Ohio only became certain in the early hours of yesterday. And with Santorum and Gingrich energized by their own wins, the often-acrimonious state-by-state race will likely continue for weeks or months, perhaps weakening the eventual nominee and benefiting Obama.
Romney scored a home-state win in Massachusetts, where he served a governor, to go with primary victories in neighboring Vermont and in Virginia. Romney later added the Idaho and Alaska caucuses to his column. Santorum won the primaries in Oklahoma and Tennessee and the North Dakota caucuses.
But Ohio, the heavily populated Midwestern industrial state, drew most attention given its history as a bellwether in presidential elections.
Romney trailed much of the night but rallied after midnight for a 38 percent to 37 percent victory over Santorum, an uncomfortably small margin for a candidate who had spent nearly four times as much money as his rival in the state.
At stake on Tuesday were 419 delegates, more than a third of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination at the party's national convention in late August in Tampa, Florida.
Romney picked up at least 212 delegates, Santorum at least 84, Gingrich at least 72 and Ron Paul at least 22, according to calculations. In the overall race for delegates, Romney leads with 415, Santorum has 176, Gingrich 105 and Paul 47.
Santorum, the former senator, captured three states and Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, notched a victory in Georgia, the state he represented in Congress for nearly two decades.
The mixed results in the 10 state contests held on Tuesday suggest that Romney, despite padding his lead in the tally of delegates who will pick the nominee this summer, is still struggling to win over the Republican Party's most conservative elements.
Regardless, Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, predicted Romney will win the nomination because his rivals "have not demonstrated an ability to do what needs to be done" to lock down the nod.
Appearing on CNBC, Romney insisted he's "getting the kind of support across the party that I need to become the nominee."
"We've got the time and the resources and a plan to get all the delegates, and we think that will get done before the convention," Romney said.
Obama, who is vulnerable in his bid for a second term, has seen his approval ratings on the rise in recent weeks in tandem with increasing signs that the US economy is finally on track for a sustained recovery from the worst downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Romney's victory in Ohio only became certain in the early hours of yesterday. And with Santorum and Gingrich energized by their own wins, the often-acrimonious state-by-state race will likely continue for weeks or months, perhaps weakening the eventual nominee and benefiting Obama.
Romney scored a home-state win in Massachusetts, where he served a governor, to go with primary victories in neighboring Vermont and in Virginia. Romney later added the Idaho and Alaska caucuses to his column. Santorum won the primaries in Oklahoma and Tennessee and the North Dakota caucuses.
But Ohio, the heavily populated Midwestern industrial state, drew most attention given its history as a bellwether in presidential elections.
Romney trailed much of the night but rallied after midnight for a 38 percent to 37 percent victory over Santorum, an uncomfortably small margin for a candidate who had spent nearly four times as much money as his rival in the state.
At stake on Tuesday were 419 delegates, more than a third of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination at the party's national convention in late August in Tampa, Florida.
Romney picked up at least 212 delegates, Santorum at least 84, Gingrich at least 72 and Ron Paul at least 22, according to calculations. In the overall race for delegates, Romney leads with 415, Santorum has 176, Gingrich 105 and Paul 47.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
