Politics & Current Events
With 93 percent of the state's precincts reporting, unofficial results showed the former Massachusetts governor with 47.2 percent of the vote to Santorum's 35.4 percent. The other two candidates in the race, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, made only token campaign efforts in Illinois and were trailing badly.
Romney also appeared poised to grab the majority of the 54 nominating convention delegates chosen in the primary. "What a night. Thank you, Illinois. What a night. Wow!" Romney told supporters at his victory party at a Schaumburg hotel shortly after 8 p.m. "Tonight we thank the people of Illinois for their vote and for this extraordinary victory."
Savoring the symbolism of winning in President Barack Obama's home state, Romney framed the general election as a "defining decision" for the American people. "This election will be about principle. Our economic freedom will be on the ballot. ... It's time to say this word: Enough."
Santorum, who had already moved on to his home state of Pennsylvania, told a rally in Gettysburg that he had congratulated Romney but still performed well in Illinois.
"If you look at what's going to happen tonight, we're going to win Downstate, we're going to win central Illinois, we're going to (win) western Illinois," he said. "We won the areas that conservatives and Republicans populate. We're very happy about that. We're happy about the delegates we're going to get too."
The results provided Romney with a sizable victory and also resurrected the aura of inevitability that his campaign has tried to project, only to be thwarted by close elections and even defeats in other states.
Yet low voter turnout throughout Illinois raised questions about Republican enthusiasm for any of the presidential contenders, particularly in a state where the GOP has long chafed at its minority status to Democrats and finally had a chance to influence a national nomination.
The state still is expected to back Obama in November and thus become flyover territory for the national campaigns in the fall, except for the occasional fundraising stop.
But Romney clearly had something to lose if he performed poorly in the state's primary.
He did not. Now, Romney's victory puts Santorum on the defensive and needing a major victory in Louisiana on Saturday if he hopes to derail Romney's march to accumulating the 1,144 delegates needed to seal the GOP nomination.
Romney spent more time in Illinois — and he and allies poured in far more money — than had been originally planned after a Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll a little more than a week out showed a neck-and-neck contest with Santorum.
As was the case in previous states where Romney was severely challenged by a rival, he and his supporters spent money fast and furiously to tarnish the opposition.
Romney and a super political action committee backing his candidacy spent $3.8 million, including a heavy TV ad blitz attacking Santorum in the expensive Chicago market, home to moderate suburban Republicans who were key to his victory. Santorum and his super PAC spent about $500,000 statewide.
More than seven in 10 voters statewide said TV ads were a factor in their vote, exit polls provided to CNN and other major networks showed.
Moreover, Republicans in suburban Cook County and the collar counties, where the bulk of the state's GOP vote is cast, supported Romney by 20 percentage points over Santorum, exit polls showed.
If anything, it was the breadth of Romney's victory that could overwhelm rivals as the nominating contest continues.
Though Santorum held the edge among very conservative voters, they made up only 30 percent of the vote. Romney, however, enjoyed a commanding advantage among the rest of the voters, those who called themselves somewhat conservative or moderate.
A plurality of GOP voters, 35 percent, said defeating Obama was the most important quality in selecting a candidate, and Romney picked up more than 70 percent of those voters, the exit poll showed.
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Romney declares victory in Illinois
There truly was a dismal voter turnout today 
I was the 11th voter at my precinct. When I went at 4PM. Sigh.
Not surprised about Mittens. I still can't stand him.
Mitt Romney declares victory in Illinois
By Rick Pearson, John Byrne and Ray Long, Chicago Tribune reporters 10:21 p.m. CDT, March 20, 2012 Illinois Republicans delivered a decisive victory to Mitt Romney in the state's presidential primary Tuesday, crushing Rick Santorum in what amounted to the first big state head-to-head contest among the front-runners for the GOP nomination.With 93 percent of the state's precincts reporting, unofficial results showed the former Massachusetts governor with 47.2 percent of the vote to Santorum's 35.4 percent. The other two candidates in the race, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, made only token campaign efforts in Illinois and were trailing badly.
Romney also appeared poised to grab the majority of the 54 nominating convention delegates chosen in the primary. "What a night. Thank you, Illinois. What a night. Wow!" Romney told supporters at his victory party at a Schaumburg hotel shortly after 8 p.m. "Tonight we thank the people of Illinois for their vote and for this extraordinary victory."
Savoring the symbolism of winning in President Barack Obama's home state, Romney framed the general election as a "defining decision" for the American people. "This election will be about principle. Our economic freedom will be on the ballot. ... It's time to say this word: Enough."
Santorum, who had already moved on to his home state of Pennsylvania, told a rally in Gettysburg that he had congratulated Romney but still performed well in Illinois.
"If you look at what's going to happen tonight, we're going to win Downstate, we're going to win central Illinois, we're going to (win) western Illinois," he said. "We won the areas that conservatives and Republicans populate. We're very happy about that. We're happy about the delegates we're going to get too."
The results provided Romney with a sizable victory and also resurrected the aura of inevitability that his campaign has tried to project, only to be thwarted by close elections and even defeats in other states.
Yet low voter turnout throughout Illinois raised questions about Republican enthusiasm for any of the presidential contenders, particularly in a state where the GOP has long chafed at its minority status to Democrats and finally had a chance to influence a national nomination.
The state still is expected to back Obama in November and thus become flyover territory for the national campaigns in the fall, except for the occasional fundraising stop.
But Romney clearly had something to lose if he performed poorly in the state's primary.
He did not. Now, Romney's victory puts Santorum on the defensive and needing a major victory in Louisiana on Saturday if he hopes to derail Romney's march to accumulating the 1,144 delegates needed to seal the GOP nomination.
Romney spent more time in Illinois — and he and allies poured in far more money — than had been originally planned after a Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll a little more than a week out showed a neck-and-neck contest with Santorum.
As was the case in previous states where Romney was severely challenged by a rival, he and his supporters spent money fast and furiously to tarnish the opposition.
Romney and a super political action committee backing his candidacy spent $3.8 million, including a heavy TV ad blitz attacking Santorum in the expensive Chicago market, home to moderate suburban Republicans who were key to his victory. Santorum and his super PAC spent about $500,000 statewide.
More than seven in 10 voters statewide said TV ads were a factor in their vote, exit polls provided to CNN and other major networks showed.
Moreover, Republicans in suburban Cook County and the collar counties, where the bulk of the state's GOP vote is cast, supported Romney by 20 percentage points over Santorum, exit polls showed.
If anything, it was the breadth of Romney's victory that could overwhelm rivals as the nominating contest continues.
Though Santorum held the edge among very conservative voters, they made up only 30 percent of the vote. Romney, however, enjoyed a commanding advantage among the rest of the voters, those who called themselves somewhat conservative or moderate.
A plurality of GOP voters, 35 percent, said defeating Obama was the most important quality in selecting a candidate, and Romney picked up more than 70 percent of those voters, the exit poll showed.