Santorum Campaign Disputes Change in Michigan Delegate Count - East Idaho News
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Santorum Campaign Disputes Change in Michigan Delegate Count

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GETTY P 060611 RickSantorumSpeaking?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1330680711550Steve Pope/Getty Images(VERONA, Pa.) — The Santorum campaign held a conference call Thursday to dispute a meeting the Michigan Republican Party held the night before that changed the rules, breaking a delegate tie that awarded 15 delegates each to Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney.

Two at-large delegates are now allocated to Romney, pushing his count up to 16 and Santorum’s down to 14.

Santorum national communications director Hogan Gidley said the meeting was “unannounced” and “behind closed doors.”  According to the party’s rules, written on Feb. 4, there would be proportional allocation of the two at-large delegates, but that was changed in the meeting to winner-takes-all.  Romney had edged out Santorum in the popular vote 41 percent to 38 percent, so he got both at-large delegates.

John Yob, who headed up the Santorum campaign’s Michigan strategy, explained that the party voted four to two to change the rules and he said the four that did vote to change it were Romney supporters, including party chair Bob Schostak, said to be a Romney backer although he hasn’t announced publicly.

“They vote four to two to change the rules that were previously approved to give Mitt Romney a win in his home state, rather than a tie in his home state, essentially because he was being embarrassed by it being a tie,” Yob said.

Ohio Attorney General and former Romney supporter Mike DeWine unleashed on the Romney campaign.

“This is a very sad commentary on the Romney campaign that for one delegate they would break the rules and they would risk tearing a state party apart over one delegate,” DeWine said, calling the campaign “desperate.”

DeWine also said his wife had received a robo-call “lambasting Santorum” from someone identified as “Mike.”

“I can guarantee you it was not this Mike,” DeWine said.  “They will do anything and say anything to try and get this nomination and they are very desperate.”

In response to the Santorum campaign’s charges, Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul wrote in an email to ABC News: ”Rick Santorum encouraged Democrats in Michigan to hijack the Republican Primary.  Because his strategy failed and Mitt Romney won, he is now attacking the Republican Party.  The Romney campaign respects the process as determined by the Michigan state party, and we are pleased that we have been awarded a majority of the delegates.  We are now focused on the upcoming contests.”

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