Northeast “Super Tuesday” happens tomorrow

Yes, there still are primary battles left to fight but with the exit of Rick Santorum from the race, Romney will be essentially running unapposed in most of these contests. Neither Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul has been able to mount a serious coalition with Santorum’s exit. At least not in these northern eastern states which Romney was heavily favored in even with Santorum in the race. The one exception was Pennsylvania which Santorum was doing competitive in but will now likely fall in line for Romney.

Voting Tuesday (4/24/12): Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island

Report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.com on the state of the primary in Pennsylvania:

Ron Paul’s visit to Pittsburgh Friday was a reminder that, technically, the race for the Republican presidential nomination continues, but Rick Santorum’s withdrawal this month put Mitt Romney firmly in general election mode and made Pennsylvania’s once highly anticipated primary a national afterthought.

A GOP battle for U.S. Senate nomination and a handful of U.S. House and state legislative races provide a few islands of contention Tuesday but they are scattered across a sea of political ennui.

“We’re anticipating an abysmal turnout,” said Frank Snyder, secretary treasurer of the state AFL-CIO, the umbrella labor group that’s trying to make its voice heard in several races.

“Nobody knows Tuesday is election day,” Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto lamented on Thursday at a rally for Democratic state attorney general candidate Patrick Murphy.

A word on the New York primary from the Ithaca Journal:

New York was supposed to be a major factor in this year’s presidential primaries, but there will be little sense of urgency surrounding Tuesday’s vote.

There was some hope that New York would help decide which Republican would challenge Democratic President Obama. But with Mitt Romney assured the nomination, GOP voters will head to the polls Tuesday to make more of a statement that exert influence on the decision.

Romney solidified his support after former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania suspended his campaign April 10. His name will still be on the ballot. Votes for Santorum will be counted toward delegates because he did not submit documentation that would invalidate his candidacy, a spokesman for the state Board of Elections said.

Turnout certainly will be lower Tuesday than it would have been if Santorum were still in the race, said Ed Cox, chairman of the state GOP Committee. He has personally endorsed Romney.

“We’re just pivoting, just like Romney, out of the state-by-state primary campaign and into the national campaign,” Cox said.

Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has been described as being too stiff.

We’ll have complete results and a wrap-up once the voting takes place. Even in a complete sweep, there are not enough delegates for Romney to hit the 1,144 magic number this time around, he’ll have to wait until May for some more contests.