STEUBENVILLE, Ohio, (Reuters) – Mitt Romney eked out a close victory in Ohio but failed to land a knockout blow against rival Rick Santorum on the Republican presidential nominating contest’s biggest night, raising the chances of a drawn-out battle between the party’s establishment and its grassroots conservatives.
Romney won five of the 10 state contests on Tuesday but his margin of victory was uncomfortably slim in Ohio, the night’s biggest prize. Unlike previous contests, this year’s “Super Tuesday” results failed to anoint a nominee.
Romney methodically moved closer to the 1,144 delegates needed to win the party’s nomination, but a strong showing by Santorum underscored the front-runner’s continued inability to win over large swathes of the Republican base, who view his past as a moderate Massachusetts governor with suspicion.
Romney’s troubles with evangelicals and working-class voters are likely to persist in upcoming contests in the conservative states of Kansas, Alabama and Mississippi. As the candidates spend millions of dollars attacking each other, polls show the lengthy nominating contest may be alienating voters.
Still, Romney’s strong organization and robust fundraising operation make him the favorite to face Democratic President Barack Obama in November. Super Tuesday may not have delivered a decisive verdict, but it did move Romney closer to the Republican nomination.
