Exit Polls: Romney Leading Santorum in llinois Primary

Posted March 20th, 2012 at 7:35 pm (UTC-5)
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Exit polls show Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney is far ahead of his top rival, Rick Santorum, as results trickle in from the Illinois Republican primary.

Republican voters in the central U.S. state went to the polls Tuesday to select their candidate to take on President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in November.

Opinion polls released a day before the primary showed Romney as many as 15 points ahead of Santorum.

Fifty-four delegates are at stake in the state, and a win would give Romney major momentum. The former Massachusetts governor has already won more than 500 delegates, while Santorum is in the 200s. The other two Republican candidates, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, are far behind.

Both Romney and Santorum campaigned in Illinois on Monday. Romney met with voters at a diner in the capital, Springfield, before heading to Chicago to deliver an economic address. He pledged to control government spending.

“I want to restore the principles that made America the greatest nation on Earth — and one of them is you don't spend more than you take in.”

On Sunday, Romney won Puerto Rico's 20 delegates, moving him closer to the 1,144 needed to win the Republican nomination.