Romney wins Arizona

• Party

Miles Romney, left, third cousin to Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, cheers Tuesday in reaction to news that Romney was the projected winner in the Arizona primary, at his election watch party in Novi, Mich.

Talk about it

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney scored a hard-won, home state triumph in Michigan and powered to victory in Arizona on Tuesday night, gaining a two-state primary sweep over Rick Santorum and precious momentum in the most turbulent Republican presidential race in a generation.

“We didn’t win by a lot, but we won by enough,” Romney told cheering supporters in Michigan. He also tweeted his delight — and his determination: “I take great pride in my Michigan roots, and am humbled to have received so much support here these past few weeks.

“On to the March contests,” he said, looking ahead to next week’s Super Tuesday races that could go a long way toward determining the Republican who will take on Democratic President Barack Obama this fall.

Santorum was already campaigning in Ohio, one of next week’s states, when the verdict came in from Michigan.

“A month ago they didn’t know who we are, but they do now,” he told his own supporters, vowing to stay the conservative course he has set.

The two other candidates, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, made little effort in either Michigan or Arizona, pointing instead to next week’s collection of contests in all corners of the country.

Romney’s Arizona triumph came in a race that was scarcely contested, and he pocketed all of the 29 Republican National Convention delegates at stake in the winner-take-all state.

Michigan was as different as could be — a hard-fought and expensive battle in Romney’s home state that he could ill afford to lose and Santorum made every effort to win.

Returns from 88 percent of Michigan’s precincts showed Romney at 41 percent and Santorum at 38 percent. Paul was winning 12 percent of the vote to 7 percent for Gingrich. In Arizona, with votes counted from 64 percent of the precincts, Romney had 48 percent, Santorum 26, Gingrich 16 percent and Paul 8 percent.

Tags: mitt romney, newt gingrich, ron paul, rick santorum, news, republican, race