Even though he lost the Kansas caucuses, Mitt Romney's march to the Republican presidential nomination got another boost over the weekend as he picked up a healthy batch of delegates in various nominating contests.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania won Kansas and gained 33 delegates to Romney's seven. But Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, gained four delegates by winning the Virgin Islands, and took nine by winning Guam, nine by winning the Northern Mariana Islands, and seven from Wyoming with three going to Santorum from the Cowboy State.
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The overall delegate count has Romney with 454, Santorum with 217, Gingrich 107, and Paul 47, according to the Associated Press. There are 1,144 delegates needed to win the GOP nomination.
The outlook is for Santorum or Gingrich to win or split the Alabama and Mississippi primaries Tuesday but for Romney to win Hawaii and American Samoa on the same day. This split decision will probably narrow Romney's lead but only marginally.
Then Romney is expected to win Puerto Rico on March 18 and Illinois March 20, which will pad his lead for the nomination.
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John of NY 1:35PM March 12, 2012
John of NY 1:28PM March 12, 2012