Mitt Romney Helped Rick Santorum Stay On Ballot In Illinois

Now that Tuesday's primary in Illinois is shaping up to be a crucial state for Mitt Romney to win, his campaign may be regretting allowing Rick Santorum to be eligible for 30 delegates.

Santorum failed to gather enough signatures for 10 of Illinois' 18 congressional districts, Romney's campaign told Buzzfeed. The former Pennsylvania senator also failed to be eligible for a full slate of delegates in Ohio, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

But unlike in Ohio, Romney allowed Santorum to stay on the ballot, and Illinois Treasurer and Romney state chairman Dan Rutherford withdrew challenges in those districts in January.

Illinois' March 20 primary will determine who gets 54 delegates, and another 15 will be chosen at the state's GOP convention in June, according to the Daily Herald. That means there was no way for Santorum to come out of Tuesday with a delegate majority until Romney's campaign allowed him on the ballot.

Rutherford told the Daily Herald that back in January, Romney's campaign was OK with the decision.

But now that choice doesn't sit well with some of Romney's allies who think allowing Santorum onto the ballot in these districts transformed a previously easy win into a competitive race.

"When there is a challenge filed because a campaign doesn't file the required number of signatures, it’s pretty much a no-brainer," a Romney supporter in Illinois told Buzzfeed. "The conservative folks started screaming bloody murder, and Rutherford caved."

"This isn't about Romney, it’s about Rutherford," he said.

Rutherford is rumored to be eyeing a run for governor in 2014, and Romney's allies speculated that the treasurer's change of heart was due in part to a desire to please Santorum supporters whom he hopes to lean on during his 2014 campaign.

"Either man up or get out of this game," said another top Illinois Republican. "If Santorum picks up delegates downstate then shame on them."

Comments

[itsboomervilla]

02:40 PM on 03/15/2012

Too bad Romney didn't take advantage of Santorum's flubbery? That's typical Republican thinking. Forget about fairness or a choice for voters. If you you get a chance to put the screws to somebody, pour it on. Romney gets a point here.

Romney, 1. Obama, so much better that it's unquantifiable. Democrats all the way in 2012.

[nonethewyzzer]

11:46 AM on 03/15/2012

The times they are a'changing, Mitt. Back in January you didn't think St. Ricky would be a problem once you got to Illinois. Now that it's March, you're not so sure.

Unfortunately for you, Mitt, you've no one to blame but yourself.

[Renee Johnson]

10:29 AM on 03/15/2012

that picture of Romney is funny...he looks pissed...REAL COLORS COMING OUT..I know he wishes he could just fire Santorum...lol

[UserNameJane]

11:18 AM on 03/15/2012

LOL@ I know he wishes he could just fire Little Ricky..

[ArkayMI]

11:48 AM on 03/15/2012

And when he becomes POTUS, he will fire house members and senators who don't go with his agenda. As he said, he would like to fire people who don't provide him services and don't met his expectations.

[Renee Johnson]

11:55 AM on 03/15/2012

guess that means the 99% will no longer be employed...that would be bad since the 1% wont work...

[Lilly-G]

09:01 AM on 03/15/2012

Romney's angry face in this picture above says plenty....there's a very angry and temperamental guy inside of Romney. That's why he won't appear on any media other than fox because he knows he will not be able to control the conversation or his temper!

[fromperdink]

08:21 AM on 03/15/2012

and we continue to wonder, why the RNC will not finalize an official ruling on apportionment (or not) of FL and AZ delegates. With the race hinging on potentially just a few delegates, the RNC needs to make this official announcement soon, or the press needs to assume that Romney does not have all the delegates from FL and AZ, and stop counting them for Romney.

[prudencehall]

08:07 AM on 03/15/2012

Mitt Romney is nothing but a marionette for his billionaire-backers. While Santorum may be too far right, at least he doesn't act like the presidency of our country is his birthright - like we owe it to him.

[Lilly-G]

09:03 AM on 03/15/2012

Mitt has an entitlement problem in general...that's because he's been fil.thyri.ch all his life so he deserves more than the rest of us!!

[Querent]

11:13 AM on 03/15/2012

Yes he does.

[Shashi0224]

07:59 AM on 03/15/2012

If you can't run a campaign, you can't run the United States of America.
Romney, you can't run a campaign.

[ManforFreedom]

01:38 PM on 03/15/2012

If that is all a person knows how to do is run a campaign, they cannot run the United States of America. Obama is living proof of that!

[Shashi0224]

05:51 PM on 03/15/2012

If you'd like facts, try this: http://obamaachievements.org/list
But, chances are you just want to hate, so your ignorance will thrive.

[BUSTERtheCAT]

07:36 AM on 03/15/2012

mitts didnt want to get his whupping without san tourm being on all the ballots, if sant ourm whupped him and wasnt on all the b allots would of look worse then it is going to

[Eric Domejean]

07:28 AM on 03/15/2012

You are missing the point Mittens, it is not a challenge because he is on the ballet, it is a challenge because you have no support.

[Muzzle Me]

06:55 AM on 03/15/2012

No, do you know who/whom helped the candidate that will win the nomination? Not only Romney, Newt, Santorum, Paul and, especially, Cain, along with Don the Con (how could we forget or he won't let us) have helped the nominee. And, who, you may ask that may be? Well, if any of us can see it was a packed GOP "clown" car right out of the git-go, then it's not too hard to figure it out. "She'll" come "riding into town to save the day", she already said she WILL be there and she ALWAYS did like to make an entrance and still does . Drum roll: Yepper, no other than P@/in!! She sat back, didn't have to work for it AGAIN, didn't have to spend a whole lot boo-koo bucks to get there either but she will just relish in the spoils of it all. When she unveiled that vid on President's Day, no less, spoke volumes to me. She'll be baaaaack! And, definitely, Newt will be in her Cabinet, IF!!!! she wins, which she won't but she will cause the 2012 elections more of a circus than we ever could have imagined.

[PrairieGayCompanion]

03:59 AM on 03/15/2012

I'm sure that Rmoney didn't expect Santorum, or anyone else, to be challenging him by March 20. Surprise!

[werewolf90210]

03:41 AM on 03/15/2012

Where are all the Ron paul supporters??? LOL! It's just about time for Snuffy Smith to drop out and go for a nap.

[sfkjeld]

06:08 AM on 03/15/2012

He is running for Rand. Oh, and freedom and liberty too of course. Snuffy Smith, lol.

[BUSTERtheCAT]

07:35 AM on 03/15/2012

snuffy smith

haaaaaaaaaaaaa

old school, fantastic

[bigprogressivejohn]

02:40 AM on 03/15/2012

I must say, I don't ever recall a primary season that has been this much fun. I might just have to put the dog on the roof of the car and take a vacation.

[Shashi0224]

08:01 AM on 03/15/2012

Great post! Fanned and Faved!

[FreewheelinFranklin]

02:18 AM on 03/15/2012

I wonder if there are any checks to the Santorum campaign from a D.Plouffe, D Axelrod, or J. Messina?

[sfkjeld]

06:09 AM on 03/15/2012

Yep, the man is a gift.

[ThinkCreeps]

07:55 AM on 03/15/2012

They shouldn't just be looking for money from them - the whole slate should be checking their staff for false names and moustaches. This level of incompetence surely has to be sabotage.

[mdlt]

12:22 AM on 03/15/2012

the man is to stupid for words. so much for a vulture capitalist....

[rdk70816]

01:25 AM on 03/15/2012

That is a rather stupid and ill informed comment, even for a commie stooge.

[Will737]

06:03 AM on 03/15/2012

Senator McCarthy.... Is that you Joe?????

[Shashi0224]

08:02 AM on 03/15/2012

IS that you, Ted Nugent? Right-wing comments look even dumber when written. Stick to calling radio shows.

[ThinkCreeps]

07:55 AM on 03/15/2012

Well, vultures aren't used to dealing with food that jumps up and starts running away.