Michigan the Next Big GOP Battleground

(The Wall Street Journal) - Michigan is emerging as the next big battleground in the 2012 Republican presidential contest as the leading contenders -- Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum -- duel for momentum heading into the pivotal month of March.

Coming off his three wins last week, Santorum plans to wager heavily on challenging Romney in his native state, which the former Massachusetts governor won easily in 2008 and has been favored to win again on Feb. 28.

Polls taken before Santorum's wins in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri last Tuesday had Romney up in Michigan by double digits, but at least one survey since then suggests the race is now much tighter.

Speaking Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Santorum said he thought he was poised to do well in Michigan, though he stopped short of predicting an outright victory. The Michigan contest -- coming a week before Super Tuesday, when 10 states will hold nominating contests -- will be watched as a test of strength in the crucial states of the industrial Midwest.

Arizona is also holding a primary Feb. 28. But it remains unclear how aggressively Romney's rivals will contest the state, which has a large bloc of Republican Mormon voters. Polls show Romney, a Mormon, strongly favored in the state's winner-take-all primary.

Michigan, on the other hand, will distribute its 30 delegates both to the overall state winner and to the winner of each of the congressional districts. Even if they fall short of an outright win, Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are vying to grab at least a portion of Michigan's delegates by winning some of the state's more conservative districts or those harder hit economically, particularly in the north and west.

Romney advisers have grown increasingly concerned about the potential for a setback in Michigan, where George Romney, the candidate's late father, worked as a top auto-industry executive and served as governor through most of the 1960s.

"Romney is in strong shape in Michigan," said Saul Anuzis, a top Romney supporter in the state and former head of the Michigan Republican Party. But, "Santorum, Gingrich and Paul could pick off delegates."

Santorum plans to spend much of this week drumming up support in Washington state, which will caucus Mar. 3, and in North Dakota and Idaho, two of the states voting on Mar. 6, Super Tuesday. He will then fly into Michigan Thursday for an address to the Detroit Economic Club.

All four candidates will face off in their only debate of the month on Feb. 22 in Arizona.

Read more: The Wall Street Journal