Here are ten things you need to know today.
- Romney sweeps Wisconsin, Maryland, and D.C.: Mitt Romney had a good night Tuesday, winning all three of the primaries. With close to 100% of precincts reporting in Wisconsin, Romney beat Rick Santorum 42.5% to 37.6%. In Maryland, Romney took 49% to Santorum’s 29%. In Washington, D.C., Romney won with 38%.
- Romney wins over new voters: Exit polls in Wisconsin show that Romney has begun to get votes from those who had been stubbornly holding out on him: evangelicals, self-described ‘very’ conservative voters, Tea Party supporters, and voters making under $50,000 per year.
- Romney predicts he will be the nominee: On Tuesday, Mitt Romney joined in with pundits and commentators to say he too thinks he will be the Republican nominee. Romney said this meant assuming that role now and fundraising for the general election. “I think we’ve had, as of tonight, we will have had almost 35 or more state or territorial contests for the nomination,” Romney told Sean Hannity on his radio show, “maybe it’s time to get going.”
- Santorum pins hopes on Pennsylvania: Rick Santorum needs a big win to stay in the race, and he’s pinning his hopes on his home state of Pennsylvania, which is one of several states in the next round of primaries on April 24.
- Palin recommends Allen West as VP pick: Sarah Palin said that the GOP nominee should consider selecting Florida Rep. and Tea Party favorite Allen West for the VP slot. “Top of my list is Allen West,” she said Tuesday on Fox News, arguing that they don’t “have to go with somebody necessarily safe.”
- Jews not abandoning Obama: A survey from the Public Religion Research Institute shows American Jews are not abandoning President Obama, even as the GOP field tried to woo them recently with their hard pro-Israel stances. Still, 62% of Jewish voters want to see Obama win, and only 7% of those who backed him in 2008 would like to see a Republican win.
- Kaine out-raises Allen in first quarter: Despite having his best quarter since early 2011, raising $1.4 million, Republican Senate candidate George Allen was still bested by rival Tim Kaine, who brought in $2.2 million between January and March. Kaine has twice as much cash-on-hand.
- Santorum campaigns in Pennsylvania: Rick Santorum isn’t taking a day off. On Wednesday, he begins a rigorous campaign schedule in his home state of Pennsylvania, which holds its primary on April 24, when the next round of voting takes place.
- Romney in Washington, D.C. to rebut Obama: A day after President Obama spoke critically about Romney at the annual meeting of the Associated Press, Mitt Romney will travel to D.C. to speak at the Newspaper Association of America.
- Candidates hit the trail: Mitt Romney will be in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, speaking at the Newspaper Association of America, before heading off to Pennsylvania for an event later Wednesday. Newt Gingrich is in North Carolina to host a rally at UNC-Wilmington, and Ron Paul is in Los Angeles, also hosting a rally among students — one his top constituencies — at UCLA.
