Republicans were voting in 10 US states in today’s “Super Tuesday” contests to decide if Mitt Romney can cement his position as front-runner.
Mr Romney and Rick Santorum are locked in a tight battle for the Mid-western industrial state of Ohio.
Newt Gingrich hopes that a big win in Georgia, which he represented in Congress for two decades, will give new life to his struggling campaign to take on President Obama in November’s election.
With 419 delegates at stake, the states offer about a third of the 1,144 required to clinch the Republican nomination at the party’s national convention in August in Florida.
Mr Romney already has a big lead in the number of delegates accumulated so far. Today could be the multi-millionaire’s best chance to establish himself as the inevitable nominee.
According to Associated Press projections, Mr Romney leads with 203 delegates. Mr Santorum has 92, Mr Gingrich has 33 and Ron Paul 25.
Mr Romney said: “I hope that I get the support of people here in Ohio tomorrow, and in other states across the country. I believe if I do, I’ll get the nomination.
“What we need to talk about to defeat Barack Obama is getting good jobs and scaling back the size of government, and that’s what I do. Other people in this race have debated about the economy, they’ve read about the economy, they’ve talked about it in subcommittee meetings. But I’ve actually been in it.”
