Republican rivals get set for Ohio showdown

Regardless of the outcome of Republican presidential primaries in Michigan and Arizona today, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum appear set for a showdown next week in Ohio.

Both candidates plan to head there this week. The candidates and their allies are already spending heavily on advertising in the state.

It is one of 10 that vote a week from today, with 419 delegates to the Republican National Convention at stake.

“An awful lot of Ohioans are just tuning in to this,” said Terry Casey, a veteran Republican campaign strategist in Ohio. “It’s going to be a sprint.”

Beyond Ohio, Romney was looking to contests in the west while Santorum focuses on the south.

Rival Newt Gingrich, seeking to inject momentum into his struggling bid, was working to make his stand in his former home state of Georgia and nearby southern states that also vote on the mega-contest day of Mar 6.

The former House speaker told reporters on Sunday: “We hope to win in Georgia, we hope to do well in Oklahoma and Tennessee. We may surprise people in Idaho. We think we have a real fighting chance in Ohio.”

Ron Paul also planned events in upcoming states, showing no willingness to abandon his quest to rack up enough delegates.

All of the divergent strategies suggest the race could go deep into March — if not beyond — without giving any of the candidates a significant edge.

“This is going to be a long race, and there’s going to be some ups and downs,” said Santorum.

Romney echoed his rival’s sentiment: “How long the process goes on, I think it’s hard to predict.”

Gingrich argued that a drawn-out campaign would give states such as California, which holds its primary on Jun 5, a large role in the nominating contest.

Heading into today’s contests, Romney leads in the race to amass the most delegates with 123. Santorum has 72, while Gingrich and Paul have 32 and 19 respectively. A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to secure the nomination.

Arizona and Michigan each lost half their delegates for holding contests before Mar 6.

Whoever wins Arizona, will get all 29 of the state’s delegates. However, Michigan will divide its 30 delegates by giving two to the winner of each of the 14 congressional districts in the state. The final two delegates are awarded in proportion to the statewide vote.

Washington’s caucuses are on Saturday, when 40 delegates are at stake, followed by Super Tuesday contests in Alaska (24), Georgia (76), Idaho (32), Massachusetts (38), North Dakota (28), Oklahoma (40), Ohio (63), Tennessee (55), Vermont (17) and Virginia (46). Wyoming Republicans will hold county conventions from Mar 6 to Mar 10, with 12 delegates up for grabs.