Mitt Romney walked away with two victories Tuesday night in distinctly different parts of the country winning in Arizona and Michigan. Rick Santorum held a strong 2nd place in Michigan but was trailing at a very distant 2nd in Arizona. Ron Paul took the number 3 spot in both states followed by Newt Gingrich rounding out the only remaining GOP candidates.
| Results for Arizona Republican Primary (U.S. Presidential Primary) |
| Feb 28, 2012 (100% of precincts reporting) |
| Mitt Romney | 216,805 | 47.3% |
| Rick Santorum | 122,088 | 26.6% |
| Newt Gingrich | 74,110 | 16.2% |
| Ron Paul | 38,753 | 8.4% |
| Other | 6,875 | 1.5% |
| Results for Michigan Republican Primary (U.S. Presidential Primary) |
| Feb 28, 2012 (>99% of precincts reporting) |
| Mitt Romney | 410,517 | 41.1% |
| Rick Santorum | 378,124 | 37.9% |
| Ron Paul | 115,956 | 11.6% |
| Newt Gingrich | 65,093 | 6.5% |
| Other | 29,152 | 2.9% |
Report from Fox News:
Mitt Romney pulled out a victory Tuesday night in his home state of Michigan, Fox News projects, fending off a stiff challenge from Rick Santorum which had once again revived questions about Romney’s ability to capture the hearts and minds of Republican voters.
Romney’s victory may not settle those questions, but it prevents a major embarrassment going into Super Tuesday on March 6, when 10 states hold primaries worth hundreds of delegates. The former Massachusetts governor also easily won the presidential primary contest in Arizona Tuesday night, a winner-take-all election that will help Romney build his growing delegate lead.
Unlike in Arizona, though, Romney will end up sharing Michigan’s 30 delegates with Santorum.
With 75 percent of precincts reporting in Michigan, Romney was leading with 41 percent, followed by Santorum with 37 percent. Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich were trailing far behind, though Fox News can project that Paul will take place third and Gingrich will place last in the state.
The Michigan primary, along with the primary in Arizona and an upcoming contest in Washington, are the final elections before 10 states weigh in with their bountiful supply of delegates in early March on what’s known as Super Tuesday.
The two-for-two performance from Romney helps him reaffirm his front-runner status going into the 10-state set.
We’ll update this post with the full vote totals for each state on Wednesday.
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