2012 Presidential Campaign Blog

Mitt Romney Endorses Pete Hoekstra For Michigan Governor

Mitt Romney Endorses Pete Hoekstra For Michigan Governor

Today, Mitt Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC endorsed Congressman Pete Hoekstra for Governor of Michigan.

“Michigan is special for me because it’s the place where I grew up and where my father served three terms as Governor.  For too long, Michigan has suffered with high unemployment and job loss.  It is critical that we elect pro-growth conservative leaders who will keep taxes low, cut wasteful spending and create jobs.  Pete Hoekstra has the capability and the right policies to get Michigan’s economy moving again,” said Romney.

The Free and Strong America PAC also announced that it has contributed the maximum $3,400 to Congressman Pete Hoekstra’s gubernatorial campaign.  On April 28, Governor Romney will attend a fundraiser for Hoekstra in Grand Rapids

Mitt Romney Up Big In New Hampshire 2012 Presidential Polling

Mitt Romney Up Big In New Hampshire 2012 Presidential Polling
 
One of the biggest blows to Mitt Romney's hopes for being the 2008 Republican Presidential nominee was his losing the neighboring state of New Hampshire. Right now it doesn't look like that would be a problem for him in a 2012 run. Romney is by far and away the favorite of voters in the state at this very early point, with the support of 39% of Republicans in the state. Sarah Palin comes in second at 13%, with Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich tied for third at 11%. Ron Paul is fifth at 7%, and if anyone out of the unlikely trio of Tim Pawlenty, Haley Barbour, and Rick Santorum was somehow able to win the state they'd be able to say in their victory speech that they started at nothing- Pawlenty registers at 3% with Barbour and Santorum at just 1%.

We've looked at the Republican race for 2012 now in 13 different states and New Hampshire is just the second where there's been a runaway leader. The other was Florida, where we found Romney with 44% to 25% for Palin and 17% for Huckabee. Florida and New Hampshire are two of the most important stops on the early Republican calendar, and if Romney had been able to turn his narrow losses in them into victories in 2008 there's a very good chance he would have been the GOP nominee. Obviously it's still a long way until 2012 but perhaps even more than his lead in our national polling, his broad advantage in this pair of key states speaks to his nominal front runner status.

Mitt Romney Continues To Lead In 2012 Presidential Public Policy Polling

Mitt Romney Continues To Lead In 2012 Presidential Public Policy Polling
 
Mitt Romney continues to lead the way among the top Republicans likely to run for President in 2012. He's polling at 33% nationally to 27% for Mike Huckabee and 23% for Sarah Palin.

PPP state by state polling has found Huckabee strong in the South and Romney winning everywhere else and the national numbers confirm that trend. Huckabee leads his home region with 37% to 25% for Palin and 23% for Romney. But in the Northeast, Midwest, and West Romney leads with anywhere from 37 to 39% with Palin second in her territory and Huckabee getting runner up honors everywhere else.

The big story in 2012 polling continues to be Palin's surprisingly poor performance. She hasn't led in a single one of the dozen individual states we've taken a look at, and runs ten points behind Romney nationally. She is actually the most well liked of the GOP front runners with 66% viewing her favorably to 55% for Huckabee and 54% for Romney, but there's a disconnect between how much voters like Palin and how willing they are to support her for President.

Beyond the regional difference Romney leads with pretty much every subgroup of the Republican electorate at this point- moderates and conservatives, women and men, and every age group except the under 30 crowd.

Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul will be added for next month's poll.

Mitt Romney's Free And Strong America PAC Raises Over $1.6 Million In First Quarter Of 2010

Mitt Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC Raises over $1.6 Million in First Quarter of 2010

Mitt Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC today filed its finance report with the Federal Election Commission and reported raising $1,447,228.70 in the first quarter of 2010.  Mitt Romney’s PAC also has five state affiliates in Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, which raised an additional $157,000 during the same period, bringing total PAC fundraising to $1.6 million. 

Contributions to Republican state and federal candidates and causes in this first quarter totaled $58,842.96.

Mitt Romney formed the Free and Strong America PAC to promote Republican candidates and conservative causes around the country through speeches, political appearances and financial support. In the first quarter of 2010, the federal PAC contributed $53,322.63 to federal candidates and committees, and an additional $1,019.63 to state candidates. 

Two of the PAC’s state affiliates also made contributions in the first quarter of 2010.  In particular, the South Carolina PAC contributed $3,500 toward Nikki Haley’s campaign to become South Carolina’s next Governor and the New Hampshire PAC contributed $1,000 to state legislative candidates. 

The federal PAC’s contributions included $5,000 each to the U.S. Senate campaigns of Senator John McCain and Congressmen Mark Kirk, and the PAC made an additional contribution to Pat Toomey’s U.S. Senate campaign to bring its primary election contribution to the maximum $5,000.  It also contributed $2,500 to Tim Burns, who is running in a May special election for the Pennsylvania Congressional seat formerly held by the late Congressman John Murtha.

In addition, the PAC rolled out endorsements and contributions to candidates in Ohio, Missouri, California, and Pennsylvania, getting behind conservative candidates who will work to lower taxes and spending, restore commonsense principles to healthcare, and focus on getting our economy moving again.

Mitt Romney Photos Freedom Foundation Of Minnesota Book Signing #FFMRomney

Mitt Romney And Tim Pawlenty Photos Freedom Foundation Of Minnesota Event #FFMRomney

Freedom Foundation Of Minnesota Mitt Romney Event Photos #FFMRomney

SRLC Announces Wilson Research Strategies 2012 Presidential Straw Poll #SRLC

SRLC Announces Wilson Research Strategies 2012 Presidential Straw Poll

Respondents will answer the following questions on the SRLC Straw Poll Questionnaire, conducted by Wilson Research Strategies:

1. If the primary election for president were held today, for whom would you vote? Please check the box by the candidate of your choice.

Newt Gingrich
Mike Huckabee
Gary Johnson
Sarah Palin
Ron Paul
Tim Pawlenty
Mike Pence
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum

2. Who would be your second choice in the Republican Primary Election for president?

Newt Gingrich
Mike Huckabee
Gary Johnson
Sarah Palin
Ron Paul
Tim Pawlenty
Mike Pence
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum

3. Please write the state you are from in the space provided. _______

4. Which of the following categories best describes your age?

18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65-74
75 or over

5. Are you a male or a female?

Male
Female

6. Who did you support in the 2008 Republican Primary Election for President?

John McCain
Mike Huckabee
Rudy Giuliani
Ron Paul
Duncan Hunter
Fred Thompson
Mitt Romney
John Cox

The Southern Republican Leadership Conference Straw Poll will be available for completion Friday and Saturday by registered attendees only. Results will be announced Saturday evening in the Media Filing Room, as well as online at Wilson Research Strategies and www.srlc2010.com.

Mitt Romney To Sign Books On Saturday, April 10 At The Bookcase In Wayzata

Governor Romney will be in Wayzata, Minnesota on April 10th to do a signing of his new book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.

Mitt Romney to sign books on Saturday, April 10

Former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will be appearing at The Bookcase on Saturday, April 10 at 10:00 a.m. to sign copies of his new book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness.

In No Apology, Mr. Romney asserts that American strength is essential -- not just for our own well-being, but for the world’s. He says that governments such as China and a newly-robust Russia threaten to overtake us on many fronts, and Islam continues its dangerous rise. Drawing on history for lessons on how great powers collapse, Romney shows how and why our national advantages have eroded, from the long-term decline of our manufacturing base, to our educational system which has left us without enough engineers, scientists, and other skilled professionals, to our corrupted financial practices that led to the current crisis, and the crushing impact of entitlements on our future obligations. Romney says that America is in debt, overtaxed, and unprepared for the challenges it must face.

Copies of the book will be available for sale at the event. The Bookcase is located at 607 East Lake Street in  Wayzata, Minnesota.

Mitt Romney Will Speak At Iowa State On March 29 About His New Book, "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness"

Mitt Romney will speak at Iowa State on March 29 about American greatness

AMES, Iowa -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will talk about his new book, "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness," Monday, March 29, at Iowa State University.

Romney's presentation will be at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall. It is free and open to the public.

In his book, Romney stresses that having a strong America is vital, not only to this country, but to the world. Looking at the lessons of history, he discusses why nations decline, and identifies how America's strength has weakened. Romney's book offers ideas for pathways to American power, solutions for healing healthcare and details on how to develop a free and productive economy.

Romney was CEO of Bain & Co., a management consulting firm, and cofounder of Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm. In 2002, he left the private sector to organize the 2002 Winter Olympics, serving as president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. He was governor of Massachusetts from 2003-07, presiding over a reversal of the state's economy, enacting education reform, and proposing and signing into law private, market-based healthcare reform. In 2008, he ran for the Republican nomination for president.

Romney's lecture is cosponsored by the College Republicans and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student Body.

More information on ISU lectures is available at http://www.lectures.iastate.edu, or by calling (515) 294-9935.