Romney Strongest in McCain Country in Wisconsin

Exit polls found Mitt Romney winning over several key demographic groups in his defeat of Rick Santorum in the Wisconsin primary Tuesday, and they can perhaps best be summed up as follows: he dominated in the state’s biggest Republican strongholds. John McCain carried 13 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties in the 2008 general election, and Romney beat Santorum there by 19 points – 52.8 percent to 33.8 percent. (The 13 counties comprised 29 percent of the vote). In the other 59 counties won by Barack Obama, Santorum nearly drew even with Romney, losing by only 2.4 points – 40.6 to 38.2 percent. There may also have been greater Democratic mischief in these Obama counties as well as a tendency to vote for the underdogs: votes for Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and other candidates tallied 21.3 percent in Obama counties compared to just 13.4 percent in McCain counties.