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    March 20, 2012

Romney Wins Illinois Republican Primary

   VOA News
   Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
   Romney, March 19, 2012
   Photo: AP
   Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
   Romney, March 19, 2012

   Although all the votes have yet to be counted, it looks like Republican
   presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney has registered a convincing win in
   Tuesday's Illinois primary, enlarging his lead in the race for the
   party's nomination.
   U.S. news services say Romney won about 55 percent of the vote to a
   little more than 25 percent for his top rival, Rick Santorum.
   The other two Republican candidates, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich,
   finished far behind.
   With the win, Romney picked up a 54 more delegates and gained major
   momentum heading into upcoming nominating contests.
   Heading into the Illinois primary, the former Massachusetts governor
   had won more than 500 delegates, while Santorum was in the 200s.
   Gingrich and Paul trailed far behind.
   A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to secure the Republican nomination
   and earn the right to take on President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in
   the November election.
   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.

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