Michigan Republican Primary Results: Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney Gets Much Needed Win

On Tuesday February 15, Massachusetts Governor and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney finally won his first big primary, beating rivals John McCain and Mike Huckabee in the presidential primary. Around 9:00pm, MSNBC reported that Mitt Romney was the projector winner of Michigan with about 10% of the vote already reported at the polls.

At the time of the announced winning projection, the polling numbers according to MSNBC were as follows:

38,000 votes Mitt Romney
32,000 votes John McCain
17,000 Mike Huckabee

According to MSNBC, this translated to about 37% of the total vote.

The win in Michigan for Mitt Romney could not have come at a better time nor was it any more crucial for Romney. If Romney had not won the Michigan Republican primary, he would have likely had to drop out of the race because it would be highly unlikely for him to compete in other states throughout the country. Romney has a great deal of wealth but no amount of money would have helped him had he lost the Michigan primary. Romney was born and raised in Michigan, something he repeatedly told Michigan voters. Romney's father was also a former governor of Michigan so Romney received great recognition from the voters in Michigan. Now with a win in Michigan, Romney is a rejuvenated candidate who moves onto Nevada and South Carolina with some momentum.

John McCain was hoping to win the state of Michigan and gain a great advantage in the Republican primary. Had McCain won the Michigan primary, he could have built a great amount of momentum and would have been tough to beat in the Republican primary. Now John McCain goes from being the front running candidate in the Republican primary to the middle of the pack of candidates. With Romney's win, there have been three major states that have delivered three different winners. Huckabee won in Iowa; his McCain in New Hampshire and now Romney in Michigan.

In South Carolina, virtually all of the candidates look to compete and win the state. Fred Thompson will be making his final stand in South Carolina and if he doesn't win the Republican primary there, he will likely be out of the race. Mike Huckabee will most likely need to win South Carolina because it is a Southern state. Mitt Romney doesn't figure to do that well in South Carolina because of his policy views. Rudy Giuliani will not be campaigning in South Carolina since he has chosen to focus on the Super Tuesday states, particularly in Florida.