Last week I wrote about how the Republican Party has begun to rally around Mitt Romney and that his list of endorsements and primary wins keep growing.
You can add a few more wins to the Romney column. This weekend Romney took the Guam and the Mariana Island contests, giving him all 18 delegates up for grabs. Saturday’s caucus in the Virgin Islands gave Romney an additional seven delegates, despite losing the popular vote to Congressman Ron Paul.
Red Alert predicted a Romney win, as the Island voters usually favor the frontrunner. Rick Santorum’s comments about sending the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to Guam (even though he apologized last Thursday) probably didn’t help him, either.
The Islands were not the only caucuses this weekend. The Kansas caucus was held on Saturday and Rick Santorum was predicted to be the big winner. After the votes were tallied, Santorum took 51 percent of the vote and took 33 of the 40 delegates available. It is a big win for Santorum, giving him momentum going into this week’s races.
The other Pacific contest this week is Hawaii. Though Herman Cain won the Hawaii Straw poll last May with 20 percent of the vote, Romney came in second with 13.6 percent and Gingrich in third with 11.9 percent. No recent polls have been done in Hawaii, but Red Alert is predicting a Romney win. Romney has the endorsement of former Hawaiian Congressman Charles Djou and has sent his son Matt to campaign there as a surrogate.
Romney is also picking up some steam in the south. Long thought to be Gingrich territory, especially after Newt’s wins in South Carolina and Georgia.
As of Saturday Rasmussen Reports had the Alabama race at a virtual three way tie, with Gingrich leading with 30 percent and Santorum and Romney respectively with 29 and 28 percent. But in a PPP poll released today Romney is now leading Gingrich by two points, 33 percent to Gingrich’s 31 percent. Gingrich appears to be pulling ahead at the expense of Rick Santorum, who is now polling at 27 percent. Gingrich has likely widened his lead by scheduling no less than six appearances within the state in the last three days. Romney won’t go down without a fight, though, and has the endorsements of the Speaker of the Alabama House Mike Hubbard and former Alabama Governor Bob Riley.
Mississippi is looking even better for the former Massachusetts Governor. Rasmussen’s polling Saturday indicates Romney has an eight point lead in the Magnolia State, but today’s American Research Group poll show Gingrich closing the gap. Romney now is polling at 34 percent and Gingrich at 32.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant threw his support behind Romney Friday saying, “I believe Mitt Romney is the Republican candidate that can be nominated and can defeat Barack Obama. It’s as simple as that. I want to win.” Other key Mississippi endorsements for Romney include Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, Sen. Thad Cochran and former Mississippi Senator Trent Lott.
Gingrich needs a win in either Alabama or Mississippi to realistically stay in the race. Alabama has 50 delegates available and Mississippi has 40. At current count, Romney has a huge lead in delegates at 454, while Gingrich only has 107 pledged delegates. Since Romney will likely win in Hawaii and America Samoa, adding as many at 29 delegates to his count, Gingrich needs to win–and win big– in either Alabama or Mississippi (preferably both) to have a fighting chance.
