WASHINGTON – Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won six victories on the Republican Party's Super Tuesday vote, netting him over 200 delegates to the Republican National Convention in August, where the party's presidential candidate will be named.
Romney's current winning streak makes rivals Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich unlikely to reach even half the number needed to beat him. To date, Romney has won 55% of the delegates at stake in primaries and caucuses.
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“We’ve got the time and the resources and a plan to get all the delegates, and we think that will get done before the convention,” Romney said on Wednesday, adding he was "prepared to fight all the way" to the convention if needed.
The delegate math is worse for Santorum and Gingrich, despite Santorum’s three victories on Tuesday.
At their current rate, the three will not even come close to catching up with Romney — unless something catastrophic happens.
In the overall race for delegates, Romney leads with 419, including endorsements from Republican National Committee members who automatically attend the convention and can support any candidate they choose. Santorum has 178 delegates and Gingrich has 107. Texas Rep. Ron Paul trails with 47, according to the tally by The Associated Press.
Forging ahead. Mitt Romney (Photo: AFP)
Santorum has won 24% of the delegates in play so far, while Gingrich has won just 14%.
If the candidates keep winning delegates at their current pace, Romney’s lead over Santorum would grow to more than 300 delegates by the end of March, and more than 400 by the end of April.
Gingrich would be even further behind, unless he can start winning states outside the South.
Nevertheless, neither Gingrich nor Santorum sound like they plan to leave the race.
“There are a lot of bunny rabbits to run through,” Gingrich said, referring to the different candidates who have risen and fallen in the polls. “I’m the tortoise.”
Santorum said that “We’ve won races all over this country against the odds. When they thought, oh, OK, he’s finally finished, we keep coming back. We are in this thing.”
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