Ready, set, vote.
Polls open in 10 states today for Super Tuesday primaries, the biggest single-day contest yet in the 2012 presidential race. Today’s primaries include Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia.
Prior to the inclusion of today’s delegates, 173 delegates have expressed support for Mitt Romney, 87 for Rick Santorum, 33 for Newt Gingrich and 20 for Ron Paul.
While Super Tuesday may shift the momentum of many candidates’ campaigns, political science professor Belinda Davis said she doubts any candidates will drop from the race following Super Tuesday’s results.
Davis also said Romney is still on top, and if he wins the majority of states today, he will likely become the official Republican nominee.
“But there are still more delegates up for grabs,” she said.
The candidates are all turning their eyes to Ohio, a major Super Tuesday state, Davis said.
“Santorum was ahead in Ohio, but Romney is closing in on the polls,” she said. “Ohio is also a swing state in the presidential election. If Santorum wins Ohio, it makes it clear he’s still a contender in the race.”
Romney dominated the Feb. 28 Arizona primary with 47 percent of the vote, while Santorum trailed in second with 27 percent.
But Michigan’s contest proved to be a struggle as both candidates fought tooth and nail for the state. Romney won with 41 percent of the vote, while Santorum collected about 38 percent.
Romney also won on Thursday in Wyoming’s non-binding caucus with 39 percent. Because the caucus was non-binding, Davis said Wyoming delegates aren’t required to support Romney.
“The odds are in favor of him, but legally, they are not bound by law to do so,” she said.
On Saturday, Romney raked in 38 percent during the Washington caucus, but Santorum fell to third place behind Paul, who has substantial backing in the state.
Despite Romney’s recent success, Davis said she doesn’t think Romney’s victories will overshadow Santorum’s past wins in Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri.
“The closeness of the vote in Michigan highlights the Republican constituents’ dissatisfaction with Romney,” she said.
While Gingrich has failed to gain another win since South Carolina, Davis predicted he will win his home state, Georgia.
Psychology junior Jeffrey Wells said he’s an Independent who will likely vote for Barack Obama in the fall and would like to see Paul pull ahead today.
“Ron Paul’s the least repulsive,” he said. “I can tolerate him the most of all the candidates.”
But Wells said he hopes Santorum will lose momentum in the race after today’s primaries.
“I really dislike Santorum and all his views,” he said. “He wants to nullify gay marriage and run on a platform based on the Bible and his beliefs rather than the Constitution. All that completely turned me off to him.”
 
____
Contact Kate Mabry at [email protected]