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March 2, 2012

GOP gives Romney one more delegate

It's no longer an even split with Santorum

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

LANSING — Michigan GOP officials have voted to change the way they will award 30 delegates from the presidential primary, a day after the tally showed native son Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum each getting 15.

The Michigan Republican Party Credentials Committee voted 4-2 Wednesday night to award 16 delegates to Romney and 14 to Santorum.

At issue is the way the party is allocating two delegates.

Twenty-eight of Michigan's delegates were awarded based on the results in each of the state's 14 congressional districts. Two went to the winner of each district. Romney and Santorum each won seven districts, so those 28 delegates were split.

The way the party rules are written, the final two delegates were supposed to be awarded proportionally, based on the statewide vote. That would result in one delegate apiece, giving each candidate a total of 15 delegates.

Instead, the credentials committee said a new rule adopted Feb. 4 was written incorrectly, and the party intended all along to give both delegates to the winner of the statewide vote — in this case, Romney.

The Santorum campaign said it would appeal the ruling and, in an email, referred to the turn of events as an "election scandal."

"Clearly, Romney was very disappointed after spending a fortune to end up with a tie in the delegates in his home state. And now, clearly, somebody is trying to change the rules after the election to help Mitt Romney," said Santorum campaign senior adviser John Brabender.

The change will have little effect on the overall race for delegates. But it would take away Santorum's ability to call the election a tie in the state where Romney's was born.

In the overall race for delegates, Romney now leads with 168, followed by Santorum with 86. Newt Gingrich has 32 delegates and Ron Paul has 19.

Republican National Committee member Saul Anuzis, a Romney supporter and credentials committee member, said the committee was simply going by rule changes it adopted unanimously at a Feb. 4 meeting.

Those changes were never communicated to the campaigns, however, and some party officials were still saying Tuesday that the two at-large delegates would be awarded proportionally.

Michigan GOP rules allow the decision to be appealed to the Credentials Committee, but it's unlikely that will result in Santorum getting back the lost delegate.

The decision also could be challenged at this summer's Republican National Convention.

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