Michigan Surprise: Santorum and Romney Split Delgates

Well Mitt Romney, the win in Michigan wasn’t all you hoped for? While Mitt Romney won the popular vote 41% to 38%, the way the delegates are divided up is done proportionally to congressional districts and according to the votes Romney and Santorum both finished with 15 delegates.

Santorum was able to portray the win as absolute considering Romney was born in Michigan, his father served three terms as Governor, Romney won the state in 2008 and he outspent Santorum 2-1.

Santorum said on the campaign trail,

“This is a huge win for us. Let’s play it the way it is. Don’t give Romney all the spin. We went into his backyard, he spent a fortune – money he had no intention of spending – and we came out of there with the same number of delegates he does. We are in great shape going to this election. We are excited about what’s going to happen on Super Tuesday.”

In the other primary on Tuesday, Romney won all 29 delegates in Arizona’s winner-take-all contest. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul were shut out of delegates in Tuesday’s contests.

Romney leads the overall race for delegates, with 167. Santorum has 87 delegates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has 32 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul has 19. It takes 1,144 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.

The next contest on the horizon is Washington State’s primary which will be held this weekend followed by next week’s Super Tuesday. On Super Tuesday 10 states hold their primaries and 419 delegates are up for grabs. This could be the defining moment for Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul as to whether they will survive to fight another day.

Do you think Mitt Romney will be the nominee?