Romney takes massive lead over opponents for GOP presidential nomination

Chris Faircloth | Staff Writer

Following wins in all three primaries last Tuesday, the former Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, has all but clinched the Republican Party nomination for president. The large lead has earned Romney recent endorsements from several high-profile Republicans including former President George H.W. Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.

“I am convinced that Mitt Romney has the skills, the tenacity, the principles, the courage and the integrity to get America back on track,” said Ryan to Fox News.

Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia all held their contests March 3. Romney beat his biggest rival for the nomination, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, by more than 20 percent of the vote in Maryland and 7.2 percent in Wisconsin. Santorum wasn’t even on the ballot in D.C.

Many Republicans are calling for Santorum to drop out of the race so the party can unite behind Romney and look ahead towards the task of defeating President Barack Obama, the party’s opponent in the general election.

Though statistically they have close to zero chance of winning the primary, there are still two other republicans in the running for the presidential nomination: Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who held a campaign rally at UNCW last Wednesday.

It seems the strategy of the underdog candidates is to get to the Republican National Convention without allowing Romney to secure a majority of the total delegates. If that happens, the nominee will be determined by a debate on the convention floor.