Romney Wins Michigan GOP Primary

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Michigan Candidates React - Mitt Romney

Handing his campaign a much needed boost, former Mass. governor Mitt Romney beats Sen. John McCain in Michigan primary after losses in Iowa and New Hampshire.

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In Michigan, Romney made himself a champion of the state's beleaguered automobile industry and promised to make the state's faltering economy a priority during his first 100 days in office.

"A lot of Washington politicians are aware of the pain, but they haven't done anything about it. And, of course, I hear people from time to time say, 'Well, that's Michigan's problem,' " Romney said in a speech Monday at the Detroit Economic Club. "But that's where they're wrong. What Michigan is feeling here will be felt by the entire nation unless we win the economic battle here."

The speech -- and others like it -- were an appeal to the residents of Michigan, who have been among the hardest hit by the nation's economic slowdown. The state's unemployment rate is the highest in the country, at 7.4 percent, and the mortgage crisis is severe.

Romney also pledged to ease fuel-efficiency standards and to spend billions of dollars in federal money to bolster automakers. "This is personal to me," he told crowds.

Romney initially launched his candidacy in Dearborn, Mich. in February and quickly hired several full-time staffers here. By primary day he had volunteer operations running in all 83 of the state's counties, placing calls to tens of thousands of likely Republican voters.

He also spent a little more than $2 million on television commercials here, according to Evan Tracey, chief operating officer of the Campaign Media Analysis Group. By contrast, Tracey said, McCain spent just under $1 million and Huckabee spent "a couple hundred thousand" on TV ads.

In his victory speech, Romney repeatedly coaxed the crowd into frenzied chants. "I have a couple of questions for you. Is Washington, D.C., broken?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"Can it be fixed?"

"Yes!"

"Are we the team that's going to get the job done?"

"Yes!"

"All right, let's take this campaign to South Carolina and Nevada and Florida and all over the country," he told them. "Let's take it all the way to the White House!"

Staff writers Perry Bacon Jr. in Michigan and Matthew Mosk in Washington and research editor Alice Crites in Washington contributed to this report.