Caucuses In Kansas, Guam, Virgin Islands, Northern Marianas
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Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Super Tuesday has passed and it’s full speed ahead for the four remaining GOP candidates in upcoming states like Mississippi, Alabama and Illinois. A couple of locations will, however, come first.
Kansas, along with the American territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Marianas hold their caucuses Saturday.
Because of the time difference, the results have already been released in Guam and the Northern Marianas; Mitt Romney swept both caucus with 84 percent of the vote in Guam, 87 percent in the Northern Marianas. Rick Santorum came in second place in Guam with 7 percent, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul came in third and fourth place with 6 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Santorum also placed second in the Northern Marianas, and Gingrich and Paul each took three percent of the vote.
There are a total of 67 delegates at stake in the four weekend voting contests: 4o in Kansas, and nine in each of the three territories.
In addition to his victories in Guam and the Northern Marianas, Romney is expected to do well in the Virgin Islands. John McCain received the most support for any specific candidate in the Virgin Islands in 2008. “Uncommitted” actually received the most votes there in the last cycle.
Kansas is a different story. In 2008, Mike Huckabee carried the state with a whopping 60 percent of the vote. Romney received 3 percent of the vote in the state’s caucus. However, the contest fell two days after Romney announced he was dropping out of the race, so his performance should not be used as a barometer for this cycle.
In an interview with ABC News earlier this week, former Kansas senator and GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole said that he expects Romney to perform “better than a lot of people believe.”
Dole, who has endorsed Romney, said he believes Santorum will also perform well on Saturday.
“Rick Santorum will probably do very well, particularly in western Kansas,” Dole said. “He won’t do as well in the eastern part of the state.”
Dole said he thinks Santorum could also perform well in Wichita, the largest city in the state, which would bode well for his chances of a victory there.
After Saturday’s events, it’s just a short couple of days until the next series of contests, which will take place in Alabama, Mississippi, Hawaii and American Samoa.
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