The candidates in the race for the Republican presidential nomination are focusing on Wisconsin this week as Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich look to slow Mitt Romney down in the Badger State.
While Maryland and the District of Columbia also hold primaries April 3, Wisconsin is the largest prize of the three with 42 delegates to the Republican convention in Tampa. A Rasmussen Reports poll released at the end of last week found Romney leading there with 46 percent, followed by Santorum with 33 percent, Paul with 8 percent and Gingrich with 7 percent.
Looking to expand on his lead, on Monday, Romney announced that he has won the endorsements of seven Republican members of the Wisconsin House of Representatives, that of former Racine County Executive William McReynolds and the backing of Sue Green -- the wife of former U.S. Rep. Mark Green who was the Republican gubernatorial candidate back in 2006. Mark Green lost out to Democrat Jim Doyle.
In 2008, Barack Obama came to Wisconsin and promised to change Washington, Romney said Monday. Four years later, it is clear that he has not met his promises and has failed Wisconsin and the American people. I am running to restore Americas promise, bring jobs back to Wisconsin, and fix our fiscal mess. With the hard work of these leaders in Wisconsin, we can bring conservative change to Washington and ensure that our future remains bright.
Looking to cut into Romneys lead, the Santorum team announced on Monday that their candidate would campaign in Wisconsin on Tuesday and Saturday. On Tuesday, Santorum is scheduled to hold events in Beaver Dam and Janesville. After heading out to California, where he plans to speak about health care reform on Thursday, Santorum plans to head back to Wisconsin on Saturday with stops in Waukesha and Pewaukee.
After his poor showing on Saturday in the Louisiana primary, Gingrich is also looking to get back on track in Wisconsin.
Gingrich is going all out in the Badger State. Callista Gingrich campaigned in Hudson and Eau Clare on Monday while her husband made a round of national media appearances and campaigned in Delaware.
While his wife is scheduled for seven more events in the state later this week, the candidate himself wont hit Wisconsin until Thursday night with a scheduled rally in Milwaukee. The Gingrich campaign has also scheduled events in Green Bay and Waukesha later in the week with the candidate speaking.
The Paul campaign announced over the weekend that their candidate is scheduled to make an appearance at the University of Wisconsin in Madison on Thursday night.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
