Romney secures double victory to keep his campaign alive

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has managed to secure victories over Rick Santorum in the Michigan and Arizona primaries.

Speaking after the results at an election party in Novi, on the outskirts of Detroit, Romney said: “We did not win by a lot, but we won by enough and that’s what counts.”

The double win comes as a huge boost to Romney in his race to presidential candidacy, as his rocky campaign in recent weeks led people to believe his threat to the competition was near to dismissible.

A loss in Michigan would have been a heavy blow to Romney’s campaign as it is his native state and his father was a popular three-term governor.

The runner-up position, however, comes as unwelcome news to Rick Santorum, who was expecting to continue his momentum following his recent victories.

Santorum conceded before all the votes were counted and spoke optimistically to his supporters in Michigan, stating that he would continue challenging Romney throughout the country. He also directed attention towards his recent rise in profile in the hopes of rallying the campaign to future success, saying: “A month ago, they didn’t know who we were. They know now.”

Romney secured an easy victory in Arizona with 47% of the votes to Santorum’s 27%.

The victory in Michigan was a different story, however, as Romney edged past Santorum with 41% to 38%. This small gap between the two is seen as the result of the conservative’s lack of support towards Romney.

This win sees Romney with all 30 delegates from the state of Arizona. The delegates from Michigan will be distributed between the two candidates, with the runner-up expecting to gain better numbers as a result of his even support throughout the state, versus Romney’s one county support.

The race now moves to Super Tuesday next week, when ten states will be in play. This is seen as the most important single day in the party primary calendar., and polls suggest that Mr Romney and Mr Santorum will split most of the ten states due to vote.

Rajeeb Gurung