• Analysis: Romney now boasts 3 times the delegates of Gingrich or Santorum

    Mitt Romney picked up a total of six states on Super Tuesday, with Rick Santorum gaining three and Newt Gingrich one. The results, particularly a close race in Ohio, left the contest far from decided. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.

    By M. Alex Johnson, msnbc.com

    Updated at 7:47 a.m. ET: Campaigns live and die on the momentum swings of big victories, strong debate performances or debilitating gaffes. But nominations are won with delegates, and in this year's Republican presidential campaign, the math is relentless: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is starting to pile them up, and faster than any of his rivals.

    That's partly because of the nature of the 2012 race, but it's also because, more than in any other recent campaign, the state Republican parties are doling out their delegates in a variety of ways this year. They've moved away from the more traditional system in which the winner of a congressional district takes most or all of that district's delegates — a winner-take-all approach that has led to the nomination's having been decided after just a few big primaries and caucuses in previous cycles. 

    Romney takes big Ohio prize in close race

    Casual followers of politics might assume that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, for example, won most of the 76 delegates Tuesday night in his home state, Georgia — and he would have under the winner-take-all system. But the Republican National Committee has tried to steer the state parties toward district allocations that more accurately reflect the popular vote.

    M. Alex Johnson

    M. Alex Johnson is a reporter for msnbc.com. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

    The upshot is that even though Gingrich won Georgia, according to NBC News' projection Tuesday night, he could end up with fewer than half its delegates. Romney, meanwhile — despite finishing second or third — could come away with a quarter of them or more.

    Math like that made it possible for Romney to hit 323 total delegates, according to NBC News' projections through 12:35 a.m. ET — more than triple the number won by Gingrich (105) and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania (101) and 13½ times those won by Rep. Ron Paul of Texas (24).

    NBC's David Gregory, Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie weigh in on the Super Tuesday results, which left the Republican primary race still wide open.

    And it's the kind of math that makes it harder for a non-front-running candidate to make a big leap in delegates, which he could do by winning an upset in a big winner-take-all state.

    Check out the full Super Tuesday results here

    The problem for Santorum and Gingrich is that there are only 12 such opportunities this year, compared to 25 in 2008. That's the number of states — none of them on Super Tuesday — that were running largely winner-take-all contests, while 22 were awarding delegates more along proportional lines.

    Slideshow: Voters head to polls on Super Tuesday

    Mark Humphrey / AP

    See pictures from around America as 11 states hold contests that will award a combined 424 delegates in the Republican primary.

    Launch slideshow

    Patchwork of rules
    (As for the rest of the states, they were waiting for state conventions or were using a combination of the two systems, many of them with unique complications — like Ohio, where delegates were being allocated proportionally unless one candidate won a clear majority, in which case it would switch to winner-take-all. Tennessee was using a similar arrangement, except the winner-take-all trigger wouldn't be pulled unless one candidate won two-thirds of the popular vote.

    (None of this takes into account the three wild-card delegate spots in each district reserved for members of the RNC. Still with us?)

    Boil it all down, and what it means is that having to navigate such a patchwork of rules rewards candidates with well-financed national campaigns that can compete in every state. 

    It rewards Romney, in other words.

    The NBC political unit's guide to Super Tuesday

    Besides having won six contests going in to Tuesday, Romney had also finished second in four of the five others, winning a significant number of delegates in many of them. Besides adding three more wins by mid-evening, he was also running second or was in a virtual tie for the lead in most of the rest of Tuesday's contests that had reported returns.

    Certainly, an unexpected development, like a candidate's withdrawal or a major mistake in a debate, could change the calculus, but as it stands now, the problem for Gingrich and Santorum is that, no matter how good they look in national polls compared to Romney, they're finishing third or fourth too often. 

    Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

    Mitt Romney arrives at a Super Tuesday gathering with his family in Boston.

    Meanwhile, the majority of winner-take-all states, where they theoretically could begin to catch up, are backloaded this year, with most coming in April or later. By that time, Romney could well have taken on the mantle of inevitable nominee, thanks to lackluster but good-enough finishes to keep the delegates ticking into his column.

    Romney all but pointed that out himself at a rally Tuesday night in Boston:

    "Tonight, we are counting up the delegates for the convention — and counting down the days until November," he said.

  • Few problems reported with new voter ID laws in Tennessee, Oklahoma

    Ashlee Culverhouse / Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP

    Dorothy Cooper, left, shows her voter identification card to Jewel McSpadden,Tuesday morning at the Westside voting station at Boynton Terrace in Chattanooga, Tenn. Cooper made national news last year when she struggled to get identification due to a previous marital name change.

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    Few glitches were reported with new voter ID laws Tuesday in Tennessee and Oklahoma, two Super Tuesday states where picture identification was required for those casting ballots.

    The Nashville Tennessean reported that only a handful of provisional ballots related to the new law were needed across the state. A voter in Tennessee without a picture ID could cast a ballot and then get a free picture ID and return it to a county election commission by Thursday for the ballot to be counted.

    One registered voter, Tim Thompson, 55, of Inglewood, Tenn., refused to show his photo identification and then refused to cast a provisional ballot, officials told the Tennessean.

    Romney scores narrow Super Tuesday win in pivotal Ohio

    “We just fought a war to bring democracy to Iraq,’’ Thompson told the Tennessean. “Now, we’re passing laws that restrict and bring conditions to our right to vote. I sacrificed my right to vote in order to make this statement,’’ said the ex-Marine.

    In Davidson County, one voter chose to cast a provisional ballot rather than show a photo ID, officials told the Tennessean.

    "People are prepared when they come to the poll," said Blake Fontenay, spokesman for the Tennessee secretary of state's office.  

    Oklahoma officials reported no complaints about their state’s new voter-ID law, local news organizations and The Associated Press reported.

    In Wisconsin, which holds its presidential primary on April 3, Dane County Judge David Flanagan on Tuesday issued a temporary injunction against the state’s new voter ID law as part of a lawsuit brought by the NAACP.

    Voter ID laws passed last year in Alabama, Kansas, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Advocates say they are needed to combat voter fraud. Opponents say the laws disenfranchise voters who may not be able to easily or freely get photo-identification cards.

    Other problems
    Ohio officials reported minor disruptions at two polling places, The Associated Press reported.

    An Allen County Board of Elections official in northwest Ohio says a polling location was moved Tuesday morning from a high school to a nearby church after a bomb threat was called in to the school.

    No bomb was found. The official said there was about a 15-minute delay while voters were directed to the new site.

    The Franklin County elections board in Columbus said some voters at multiple-precinct locations left their polling places because workers were confused over which ballot to give them. Officials don't believe a large number of voters were affected. They were calling those who left to let them know they could return to vote.

    Ohio voters were asked to vote twice, which caused a bit of confusion for some, NBC station WLWT reported.

    When voters voted twice in the presidential race, they voted once for their favorite candidate for president, which counts toward the popular vote, and once for a slate of delegates assigned to a delegate even though the delegates are not obligated to vote for that candidate at the party convention.

    In South Toledo, Ohio, voters in one precinct were given the wrong ballot. The Lucas County elections board said five people received ballots for the 5th congressional district instead of the 9th district. Kaptur’s staff said up to 70 people received the wrong ballot.

    The Toledo Blade reported late Tuesday that the Ohio Secretary of State’s office reversed an earlier decision and said residents could vote again.

    Two problems were reported at polling places in Memphis, Tenn., Shelby County Election Commission Chairman Robert Meyers told the Commercial Appeal.

    Lifelink Church lost power due to a blown fuse, but voters could cast ballots because voting machines are battery operated, he said.

    At Springdale Baptist Church a ruckus ensued after a poll worker asked which party’s ballot a voter wanted. The voter, who was not identified, claimed not to have enough money to be a Republican and the poll worker replied that the voter never would if he or she kept pulling Democratic ballots, Meyers said.

    “That’s not the kind of conduct we want to condone on election day,” Meyers told the Commercial Appeal. “We reminded (poll workers) that we have to keep our personal views to ourselves.”

  • Super Tuesday voters hit polling stations early

    Joe Raedle / Getty Images, Toby Talbot / AP, David Maxwell / EPA

    Super Tuesday voting. From left:
    A polling station setup in Froehlich's Classic Corner, Ohio.
    A voter casts his ballot in Montpelier, Vt.
    Justin Blake prepares to vote at the town hall in Rootstown, Ohio.

    Here's the skinny on Super Tuesday courtesy of msnbc.com's First Read:

    Eleven states across the country will hold contests awarding a combined 424 delegates. Here are the 11 contests, plus the delegates at stake in each: Alaska caucus (24), Georgia primary (76), Idaho caucus (32), Massachusetts primary (38), North Dakota caucus (28), Ohio primary (63), Oklahoma primary (40), Tennessee primary (55), Vermont primary (17), Virginia primary (46), and Wyoming caucus (5 of its 26 are elected tonight).

    The GOP presidential candidates have different strategies and strongholds in these 11 races. Romney hopes to lock down his home state of Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia (where only he and Paul are on the ballot), and Idaho. Santorum is expecting wins in Oklahoma and Tennessee. Gingrich has focused on his home state of Georgia. And Paul has concentrated on the caucuses in Alaska, Idaho, and North Dakota, as well as the primary in Vermont.

     Download the NBC News Guide to Super Tuesday (opens PDF).

    John Amis / AP

    Mary Lou Andrews stops to fill out a voter certification card as others go in to Medlock Bridge Elementary School to cast their ballots in the Republican primary in Johns Creek, Ga., on March 6, 2012.

     

  • NBC/WSJ poll: Primary season takes 'corrosive' toll on GOP and its candidates

    By Mark Murray, NBC News Senior Political Editor

     

    As another round of voting takes place this week in the Republican presidential race – with 11 states holding Super Tuesday contests – a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that the combative and heavily scrutinized primary season so far has damaged the party and its candidates.

    Four in 10 of all adults say the GOP nominating process has given them a less favorable impression of the Republican Party, versus just slightly more than one in 10 with a more favorable opinion.

    Additionally, when asked to describe the GOP nominating battle in a word or phrase, nearly 70 percent of respondents – including six in 10 independents and even more than half of Republicans – answered with a negative comment.

    Some examples of these negative comments from Republicans: "Unenthusiastic," "discouraged," "lesser of two evils," "painful," "disappointed," "poor choices," "concerned," "underwhelmed,” “uninspiring” and “depressed.”

    Read the full poll here (.pdf)

    And perhaps most significantly, the GOP primary process has taken a toll on the Republican presidential candidates, including front-runner Mitt Romney, who is seen more unfavorably and whose standing with independents remains underwater.

    “The primaries have not raised the stature of the party, nor enhanced the appeal of the candidates,” says Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff.

    “The word you’d have to use at this stage is: ‘Corrosive,’” McInturff adds.

    The damage from the Republican primary season – in addition to a rising job-approval rating for President Obama and more optimism about the U.S. economy – has given Democrats an early advantage for November’s general election.

    Indeed, the president’s job-approval rating now stands at 50 percent; Obama leads Romney in a hypothetical general-election match up by six points; and Democrats hold a five-point edge on the generic congressional ballot.

    If this poll’s outlook on the 2012 race were a cocktail, Hart says, it would be “one part Obama, one part the economy, and three parts the Republican Party’s destruction.”

    Bad news and good news for Romney
    How damaging has the primary season – with all of its debates, attack ads and scrutiny -- been for the Republican Party?

    Forty percent of all adults say the GOP contest so far has made them feel less favorable about the party, while 12 percent say they now have a more favorable impression. Forty-seven percent say it’s had no impact.

    Even among Republicans, 23 percent maintain the primary season has given them a less favorable opinion of the party, versus 16 percent who say it’s been positive.

    In addition, 55 percent of respondents – including 35 percent of Republicans – believe the Democratic Party does a better job than the GOP in appealing to those who aren’t hard-core supporters. Just 26 percent say the Republican Party does a better job on this front.

    And it’s been damaging for Romney, too. In January’s NBC/WSJ poll, Romney’s favorable/unfavorable rating stood at 31 percent to 36 percent among all respondents (and 22/42 percent among independents).

    But in this latest survey, it’s now 28 percent favorable and 39 percent unfavorable (and 22/38 percent among independents).

    In fact, Romney’s image right now is worse than almost all other recent candidates who went on to win their party’s presidential nomination: Obama’s favorable/unfavorable ratio was 51/28 percent and John McCain’s was 47/27, in the March 2008 NBC/WSJ poll; John Kerry was at 42/30 at this point in 2004; George W. Bush was 43/32 in 2000; and Bob Dole was 35/39 in March 1996.

    The one exception: Bill Clinton, in April 1992, was at 32/43 percent.

    But there is also some good news for Romney in the poll, especially as it relates to his bid to capture the GOP presidential nomination.

    Read the full poll here (.pdf)

    After his primary victories last Tuesday in Arizona and Michigan, the former Massachusetts governor leads the national Republican horserace, getting support from 38 percent of GOP voters, his highest-ever mark in the poll.

    He’s followed by former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum at 32 percent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul tied at 13 percent.

    In a race reduced to just two candidates, Romney leads Santorum by five percentage points, 50 to 45 percent.

    In particular, Romney has improved his standing with Tea Party supporters, getting support from 44 percent of them in a two-way contest against Santorum.

    And what’s more, 72 percent of Republicans say they would be satisfied if Romney becomes their party’s presidential nominee.

    Obama’s improved political standing
    When it comes to President Obama, the poll contains mostly good news. Fifty percent approve of his job – his highest mark in the NBC/WSJ survey since Osama bin Laden’s death – and 45 percent disapprove.

    In a hypothetical general-election contest, he leads Romney by six points, 50 to 44 percent, winning independents (46-39 percent), women (55-37 percent) and those in the Midwest (52-42 percent).

    Obama enjoys bigger leads over Paul (50 to 42 percent), Santorum (53 to 39 percent) and Gingrich (54 to 37 percent).

    Bolstering Obama’s standing is increased optimism about the state of the U.S. economy.

    Read the full poll here (.pdf)

    Forty percent believe the economy will improve during the next year, a three-point increase from January. And looking back at the economic recession, 57 percent say that the worst is behind us, while 36 percent say the worst is still to come.

    Back in November, only 49 percent said the worst was behind us.

    “President Obama is probably in the best political shape he’s been in since his initial year as president,” says Hart, the Democratic pollster.

    The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted from Feb. 29 through March 3 of 800 adults (including 200 by cellphone), and it has an overall margin of error of plus-minus 3.5 percentage points. The poll also contains an oversample of 185 interviews to achieve a total of 400 GOP primary voters, and that margin of error is plus-minus 4.9 percentage points.

  • Romney wins Washington state caucuses

    By Michael O'Brien and John Bailey

     

     

    Updated at 1:50 a.m. ET: Mitt Romney won the presidential preference poll in the Washington state GOP caucuses Saturday, carrying forward his momentum from wins in Michigan and Arizona and setting the table for the crucial Super Tuesday gauntlet.

    Romney and the other three remaining Republican presidential candidates waged a tougher-than-expected battle for Washington's votes, even though no delegates to the national convention were decided there.

    Each candidate has spent time and money in recent weeks in hopes of picking up a victory -- and political momentum -- in Washington, as a table-setter to Super Tuesday, next week's slate of 10 caucuses and primaries across the country. 

    Full Washington results can be found here.

    After the results Saturday were revealed by the state party, Romney issued a statement congratulating his GOP rivals on their campaigns.

    "We may differ from one another in background and experience," Romney said. "But we are united in our love of this country, and in our belief that with proper leadership America can do much better. The voters of Washington have sent a signal that they do not want a Washington insider in the White House."

    In Seattle, Paul told supporters he was optimistic, NBC News reported.

    "We know how to get delegates," he said, noting he is focused on an eventual delegate-building strategy.

    The Super Tuesday contests in three days are expected to rehash the fight between Romney and Rick Santorum in Michigan, where Republicans handed the native Romney a narrow victory over Santorum. That battle is most focused in the critical state of Ohio although nine other states will be weighing in, including Georgia, Oklahoma and Massachusetts.

    In years past, Washington’s contest was unimportant, taking place after the nomination was already by and large sewn up. In 2008, the Republican primary took place in late February after John McCain’s big night on Super Tuesday and after Romney had already dropped out of the race. This year’s attention from the press and the candidates is unusual, and underscores how difficult it's been for Republicans to draw their nominating process into an orderly conclusion.

    Romney was in the state overnight Thursday and Friday morning. He raised $600,000 from supporters, and pleaded with supporters at a separate rally to show up on Saturday and participate in the caucuses.

    "So I know most of you don’t know how to get to a caucus site. So if you go to Romney 'W-A' now -- you know what the 'W-A' stands for, RomneyWA.com -- it will tell you, if you put your address in, where the closest caucus site is," the former Massachusetts governor said. "Then you can show up and it won’t take a long time, it will just make a big difference. So please make sure and go to the caucus site. Get your friends to do the same thing."

    Romney's hoping to build on momentum from this past Tuesday, when he easily won Arizona's primary and edged Santorum in his native Michigan.

    Santorum was in Washington as recently as Thursday, and he decried the GOP's "good 'ol boys" who wish to see Romney become the nominee.

    "The best chance for us to win is to not to go along with the good ol' boys who always want to nominate a moderate. The best chance for us to win is to create clear, sharp contrasts," Santorum said, continuing with a line of attack that almost scored him an upset win over Romney in Michigan earlier this week.

    Santorum -- as well as Gingrich -- each swung through the state in mid-February around the time the state's Democratic governor signed into law new legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in the state.

    “This is the first time in our history that all the candidates have come out before the caucuses,” said Kirby Wilbur, the chairman of the Washington GOP. “For a political party, it’s exciting when the candidates pay attention to you.”

    Paul, the Texas representative, also spent Friday in Washington. His campaign has focused more intently on caucuses rather than primaries because caucuses tend to favor the type of enthusiastic supporter Paul enjoys. But he has not been able to win outright any of the caucuses to date.

    Unlike some of the other major primaries to have taken place, though, the candidates have spent a minimal amount of money on advertising in the state. Paul's campaign has spent $48,000, and Santorum has spent $25,000.

    Like most other caucuses to have taken place, no actual delegates will be formally awarded on Saturday.

    Two sets of results were coming out of Washington on Saturday night. First was the results from a straw poll of caucus attendees. The straw poll is conducted at sign-in, and then caucusgoers are encouraged to remain at precincts to elect delegates to the state convention in June. That convention will actually determine the allotment of Washington's 43 delegates.

    Wilbur said the late selection process could keep the state in the national spotlight if the Republican nomination fight becomes a protracted hunt for delegates.

    “If we don’t have a clear winner in another month or so, I’ll think they’ll come back,” he said. “We’ve got 40 delegates at stake at our state convention in May and they’ll need those 40 delegates if it’s still a two- or three-man race going down the stretch.”

    The Washington contest serves largely as a precursor, though, to Super Tuesday. In a nomination fight that may turn into a protracted battle for delegates, individual contests become more important to each candidate.

    Regardless, the state party is happy to have the candidates and media focus on the state like never before.

    “We’ve never had this kind of attention,” said Wilbur. “We were always the ugly sister never invited to the dance and now we’re the princess.”

    NBC News contributed to this report.

  • Romney and Santorum fight for Super Tuesday's crown jewel

    Gerald Herbert / AP

    Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally at American Posts in Toledo, Ohio, Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

    By Michael O'Brien, msnbc.com

     

    TOLEDO, Ohio – Ten states hold their nominating contests in the Republican presidential primary on Tuesday, none more important than the contested race in Ohio, a state key in any general election candidate’s path to the White House.

    The state’s Republican primary is poised to become the crown jewel of Super Tuesday, a state in which Mitt Romney could avoid the kind of backslide he suffered after previous wins in the primary cycle or where another candidate could find a new boost of energy and momentum.

    For Rick Santorum, the former senator from neighboring Pennsylvania, Ohio presents an opportunity to challenge Romney on similar terrain as Michigan – where he almost upset Romney on Tuesday evening – but without the built-in advantages for the former Massachusetts governor.

    Santorum must begin to string together some big wins in major states, said Randall Fought, a Perrysburg bricklayer, of Santorum at his campaign event on Tuesday in northwest Ohio. “He’s got to pick up some decisive places, especially here in the Midwest.”

    But Romney is riding high after staving off Santorum in Michigan, while also scoring a decisive win in Arizona.

    “If Santorum would have won Michigan, I would’ve been tilted in that direction … He was weak in the debate, and I think that affected him in the result,” said Michael Kuhar of Point Place, Ohio following a Romney event in Toledo. 

    With only a few days until Super Tuesday, delegates are at stake for the GOP presidential candidates. NBC's David Gregory explains how candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum are campaigning in those Super Tuesday states.

    “I think [Romney] has more momentum. I think he attracts and will continue to attract anybody that could’ve been on the fence, like myself,” added Kuhar, who said he was undecided before Romney’s win in Michigan.

    Of the 10 states hosting primaries or caucuses on Tuesday, few are as competitive as Ohio, a battleground state that will be important to the general election in November.

    Santorum held an advantage over Romney in the state ahead of the voting this week in Michigan and Arizona, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday that found Santorum leading Romney, 36 percent to 29 percent with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 17 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 11 percent.

    But Santorum faces an initial handicap in the race, too. While he’ll appear on the ballot statewide – giving him the chance to beat Romney – he’ll be ineligible to win delegates in the three congressional districts where he did not file delegate slates. He’ll lose out on the opportunity to win as many as nine delegates.

    First Read: How ugly was Romney's win?

    “What people are beginning to understand is the conventional wisdom about Romney – that he would be the best candidate in the fall – is not true,” said Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a former senator who served with Santorum in Congress and had initially backed Romney for the nomination.

    To that end, Santorum is set to rely on a similar formula that almost won him Michigan, looking to relate with working class voters and very conservative voters who feel uncomfortable or disconnected from Romney.

    “I think he should play very well here,” said Peggy Moody of Steubenville, Ohio, who’s been unemployed for a year and a half since losing her job as a pharmaceutical sales representative. “I feel that Rick Santorum is much more genuine and he relates better to the people.”

    But some Ohio voters also take umbrage at the suggestion that Romney can’t relate to voters in the state as well as Santorum.

    “I look at it the same way,” said Brook Welker, who owns a small business that places outdoor signage throughout northwest Ohio, in reference to Romney’s well-publicized private sector career. “I acquire signs in disrepair – I acquire assets for my business, fix them up, and cut losses. It’s the same thing [with Romney] on a larger scale. I can identify.” 

    Both Romney's and Santorum’s abilities to connect with voters will be an important test not just in Ohio, but in the nine other states hosting contests.

    Moreover, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul are each battling to rejuvenate their own candidacies by focusing on very specific caucuses and primaries. Victories by either candidate could infuse their campaigns with new momentum, or, at the very least, contribute to the growing possibility that the race for the GOP nomination will become a drawn-out battle for delegates.

    Gail Gitcho of the Romney campaign explains whether the presidential candidate can now close the deal with the Republican base, gaining their support as well as the nomination.

    “Every primary is important as you start to build your delegate count. Our goal is to help Gov. Romney achieve the goal,” said Ohio Senate President Tom Niehaus, a Republican who’s supporting Romney. “I certainly would hope that it would come to an end soon. But I think the reality is that we have a number of candidates who have said they’ll continue contesting contests through the early summer.”

    The 10 states hosting primaries or caucuses on Super Tuesday are Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. A total of 437 delegates are at stake, although some states apportion them differently. In the case of Virginia, only Romney and Paul qualified for the ballot.

    Romney has campaigned this week in Ohio, Idaho and North Dakota, and has dispatched surrogates to some of the other states. Gingrich has, meanwhile, fought most aggressively in his native Georgia and neighboring Tennessee. Santorum has planned stops in Tennessee and has done media in Oklahoma. Paul has also spread the map, but has made a particular point of challenging Romney head-to-head in Virginia.

    Ten states have held their primaries already, with over 300 delegates up for grabs. That’s the same number of states that hold contests on Super Tuesday, except more delegates will be at stake on a single day than in two months’ worth of voting. An additional 11th state, Wyoming, is apportioning its delegates on Super Tuesday, too. The state of Washington additionally hosts caucuses this weekend.