Mitt Romney averts disaster in Michigan primary

Mitt Romney averts disaster in the Michigan primary

He won the primary by 3 points. That was more of a psychological victory than anything else, because Michigan's delegates are split by district, so the two leaders will end up with about the same number at the convention, but it represented a solid comeback from a massive deficit shown by the polls a couple of weeks ago. Romney pulled in about 41% of the votes, compared to 38% for Santorum, 12% for Paul. Gingrich pulled a weak 7%, reflecting the fact that he spent the day campaigning in Georgia!

Romney actually built up a six point lead (39-33) among Republicans and independents (90% of voters), but Santorum took back three of those six points by winning 5-2 among Democrats, who represented 10% of voters in the open primary.

In winner-take all Arizona, Romney crushed Santorum 47-27. (Gingrich 16, Paul 8.) Santorum made little to no effort in that state.