Michigan primary news stories on Newser

Media Decided GOP Race Was Over on Feb. 28

Matt Cantor — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:18:59 CDT

No one's been nominated yet—but the media crowned Mitt Romney the winner of the GOP primaries after he took Michigan on Feb. 28, a Pew report finds. Of course, Romney didn't essentially seal the deal until Rick Santorum dropped out. That happened on April 10, weeks after the media...

Rick Cries Foul as Mitt Gets Extra Michigan Delegate

Rob Quinn — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 06:32:03 CST

Michigan's GOP has outraged Rick Santorum's campaign by flip-flopping on how delegates are awarded. Before this week's primary, officials repeatedly said two delegates would be awarded for each congressional district, with two at-large delegates to be split between candidates who received more than 15% of the vote. Santorum and Mitt...

Mitt Romney Holds Onto Lead, Sort Of

Kevin Spak — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:52:45 CST

Mitt Romney may have had to sweat a little, but he won in both Michigan and Arizona last night. Is he the favorite for the nomination again? Here's what pundits are saying: We'll let Romney himself have the first word: "We didn't win by a lot, but we won by...

Romney Grabs Michigan

Rob Quinn — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:32:37 CST

Mitt Romney needed a win in Michigan and he got one, though the narrow margin of victory in the state where he was born and raised may worry supporters, reports the Wall Street Journal . Romney ended up taking 41% of the vote, Rick Santorum finished a few points behind with...

Mitt Wins Easily in Arizona

Newser Editors — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:04:02 CST

Mitt Romney has, as predicted, cruised to victory in Arizona's Republican primary, winning all 29 of its delegates. Romney took 47.3% % of the vote, Rick Santorum came in second with 26.6%, 16.2% chose Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul came in last with 8.4%. Exit polls...

Santorum Call Could Backfire, McCain-Style

Kevin Spak — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:49:16 CST

Rick Santorum's attempt to rally Michigan Democrats to his cause via a robocall makes strategic sense—he needs to do something to overcome Romney's presumably already banked lead among early voters—but it could backfire, and "give Romney an opportunity to argue that the Michigan result should come with an...

Santorum Call Tells Democrats to Vote for Him

Kevin Spak — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:18:20 CST

Rick Santorum must have thought the Daily Kos had the right idea with Operation Hilarity . Santorum's campaign has been sending out a robocall to Michigan Democrats, urging them to vote for him, Talking Points Memo reports. In the ad, a deep-voiced man says that Mitt Romney's opposition of the auto...

Romney, Santorum Neck-and-Neck in Michigan

Matt Cantor — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:55:32 CST

Mitt Romney is feeling confident. The former governor is boasting that he'll take the hard-fought Michigan primary today, the AP reports—but it's going to be a nail-biter. Eleventh-hour polls show Romney and Rick Santorum neck-and-neck in the state. Nate Silver is estimating Romney will best Santorum by the narrowest...

Empty Stadium Overshadows Romney Coverage

John Johnson — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 06:05:14 CST

Team Romney must want a do-over. Coverage of a much-hyped economic speech at Detroit's Ford Field yesterday is getting attention mainly for two things: His poorly received ad lib about owning a few Cadillacs and, more prominently, all those empty seats. A few examples: Washington Post : "Empty seats steal thunder,...