The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

Republican hopefuls primary focus on election day

It’s voting day in Wisconsin, and primary contenders Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are all on the ballot, along with candidates in local elections.

While Rick Santorum had been gaining ground in Wisconsin, according to polls taken by Marquette’s Law School in February, Mitt Romney has climbed to the number one spot, according to the school’s most recent March poll.

The winner of the Wisconsin primary could potentially earn an additional 42 delegates to their total. While this is more than the Washington, D.C. (19) and Maryland (37) primaries taking place today, earning all of Wisconsin’s delegates alone would not be enough to change the ranking of the candidates.

All four of the Republican presidental candidates have been in Wisconsin over the past week, and ads from each of them have flooded radio and television airwaves. Newt Gingrich made an appearance on Marquette’s campus Thursday evening as the guest of the College Republicans, and Romney, Santorum and Paul have made the rounds speaking at meetings of conservative groups around the state.

Tyler Martell, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, will be voting in tomorrow’s primary. He said that he is still on the fence about which candidate he will vote for.

“Since the beginning, we’ve been hearing that Mitt Romney was going to be the nominee, and I don’t like being told what to do,” Martell said. “And not liking being told what to do makes a part of me want to vote for Ron Paul, because I agree with his positions the most, especially in regards to economic policy.”

Romney has outspent the other candidates on advertising over the past several weeks. He also has the backing of popular Wisconsin Rep. and chairman of the House Budget Committee Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), which gives him another edge.

As the primary season drags on much longer than usual, losing in Wisconsin may deter the other candidates from continuing in the race until the next round of primaries on April 24th.

Voting is open from 7 a.m to 8 p.m. Polling locations can be found at http://city.milwaukee.gov/election.

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