Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took another step toward securing the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, notching a key victory in Wisconsin’s primary.
The Associated Press called the race for Romney less than an hour after polls closed. With about 56 percent of precincts reporting, Romney received 42 percent of the vote to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s 38 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, earned 12 percent of the vote and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich had 6 percent.
In his victory speech in Milwaukee, Romney turned his focus to the general election, criticizing President Barack Obama for creating a “government-centered society” and supporting policies that caused the most job losses in the U.S. since the Great Depression.
“I don’t want to transform America, I want to restore to America the economic values of freedom and opportunity and limited government that have made us the powerhouse of the world,” Romney said.
In the days leading up to the primary, Romney received key endorsements from several influential conservatives in the state, including U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
Although Romney may be attempting to pivot to the general election, Santorum said the primary campaign had only reached halftime and vowed to stay in the race. He argued that Romney’s positions are too similar to Obama’s and stressed that he is the more conservative candidate.
“If we’re going to win this race, we can’t have little differences between our nominee and President Obama, we have to have clear contrasting colors,” Santorum said.
42 delegates were at stake in Wisconsin. Romney will be awarded 18 delegates for winning the state’s primary and 3 additional delegates for each Congressional district he wins.
Romney also won two other primaries comfortably Tuesday. He earned 47 percent of the vote in Maryland and 71 percent in Washington, D.C.
The next set of Republican presidential primaries will take place April 24.
