Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads the field of Republican presidential candidates heading into Super Tuesday lineup of 10 primaries next week, most of them in New England & the South.

HOME STATES OF ROMNEY &
GINGRICH VOTE THIS WEEK

1,144 delegates needed to win
Republican  Party  nomination
 
With only 13 percent of the delegates to the Republican National Convention chosen thus far, the four GOP presidential candidates are gearing up for the biggest primary election day to date — so-called Super Tuesday, which focuses on New England and the South.

The home states of two of the candidates — Georgia and Massachusetts — will select more than a quarter of the 437 delegates to be chosen on Tuesday, when voters are scheduled to go to the polls in 10 states.

A total of 1,144 delegates are needed to win the nomination.

To date, only 299 have been selected, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leading the field with 163, followed by ex-Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum with 83.

Rounding out the quartet of candidates are former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who has 32 delegates, and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who has 19.

The largest delegation up for grabs this week, 76, is in Georgia, followed by Ohio, which has 66, and Tennessee, with 58.

The one additional southern state that will be voting is Virginia, along with the New England states of Massachusetts and Vermont and the southwestern state of Oklahoma.

Also voting Tuesday will be Alaska, North Dakota and Idaho.

The Republican National Convention is scheduled to begin Aug. 27 in Tampa.
 
— VoB Staff report
 
READ MORE ABOUT SUPER TUESDAY IN THE McCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS’ STORY IN THE KANSAS CITY STAR  (click here)  AND CHECK OUT THE HUFFINGTON POST’S “ELECTION DASHBOARD” WITH ALL THE LATEST STATS, UPDATED AT FIVE-MINUTE INTERVALS  (click here).