Romney wins Maine caucus & CPAC straw poll
Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 4:58 pm
Romney wins Maine caucus contest
Mitt Romney is the winner of the Maine Republican presidential caucuses.
The state party announced Saturday evening that Romney received 39 percent of the vote in the state's nonbinding contest. Ron Paul came in second, with 36 percent.
The two were the only candidates to seriously contest the election. Romney won in 2008, but Paul has devoted his campaign resources to the state and was looking for his first win of the 2012 primary season.
Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich largely ignored the Maine contest, which marks the first step toward allocating the state's 24 delegates. Santorum is carefully choosing his targets, with the aim of pulling off decisive wins like he did in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Gingrich is focusing in the near-term on the 10 states holding primaries on March 6.
The caucus drew fewer than 5,500 voters from across the state four years ago. But Romney entered with an apparent advantage, having won by a wide margin in 2008 and been the governor of another New England state, Massachusetts.
He changed his schedule Friday night to add personal appearances at two caucuses Saturday; he had planned to take the day off. Paul also had several appearances on caucus day.
The Romney-Paul contest was unusual in that the two rarely spar or engage each other, on the debate stage or in ads. The nastiest campaign trail talk has been between Romney and Gingrich.
The candidates earlier in the day received the results of another contest -- the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Romney won the poll, with 38 percent, but Santorum was not far behind with 31 percent.
Paul had won the poll the last two years, but he did not attend this year's conference and came in last place.
The nonbinding Maine presidential straw poll, which began Feb. 4, drew virtually none of the hype surrounding recent elections in Florida and Nevada, where candidates poured millions of dollars into television and radio advertising.
The timing of the contest, though, raises the stakes.
The narrative coming out of Maine will likely reverberate in the political echo chamber for weeks, given there isn't another election until Arizona and Michigan host their contests Feb. 28.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Mitt Romney is the winner of the Maine Republican presidential caucuses.
The state party announced Saturday evening that Romney received 39 percent of the vote in the state's nonbinding contest. Ron Paul came in second, with 36 percent.
The two were the only candidates to seriously contest the election. Romney won in 2008, but Paul has devoted his campaign resources to the state and was looking for his first win of the 2012 primary season.
Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich largely ignored the Maine contest, which marks the first step toward allocating the state's 24 delegates. Santorum is carefully choosing his targets, with the aim of pulling off decisive wins like he did in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Gingrich is focusing in the near-term on the 10 states holding primaries on March 6.
The caucus drew fewer than 5,500 voters from across the state four years ago. But Romney entered with an apparent advantage, having won by a wide margin in 2008 and been the governor of another New England state, Massachusetts.
He changed his schedule Friday night to add personal appearances at two caucuses Saturday; he had planned to take the day off. Paul also had several appearances on caucus day.
The Romney-Paul contest was unusual in that the two rarely spar or engage each other, on the debate stage or in ads. The nastiest campaign trail talk has been between Romney and Gingrich.
The candidates earlier in the day received the results of another contest -- the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Romney won the poll, with 38 percent, but Santorum was not far behind with 31 percent.
Paul had won the poll the last two years, but he did not attend this year's conference and came in last place.
The nonbinding Maine presidential straw poll, which began Feb. 4, drew virtually none of the hype surrounding recent elections in Florida and Nevada, where candidates poured millions of dollars into television and radio advertising.
The timing of the contest, though, raises the stakes.
The narrative coming out of Maine will likely reverberate in the political echo chamber for weeks, given there isn't another election until Arizona and Michigan host their contests Feb. 28.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02 ... -caucuses/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
