ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran as a son of Michigan though he left the state nearly 40 years ago, won the Republican primary here with a message aimed at voters deeply anxious about the state’s economy and their own financial prospects.
Promising to revitalize the distressed automobile industry, Mr. Romney defeated his principal rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, by winning a clear plurality of Republicans and conservatives, who turned out in greater numbers than they had in the 2000 primary, which Mr. McCain won.
“Tonight marks the beginning of a comeback,” Mr. Romney said in declaring victory at a hotel rally in Southfield. “Tonight is a victory of optimism over Washington-style pessimism.”
Mr. Romney needed a victory in Michigan to save his candidacy after finishing second to Mr. McCain in New Hampshire and to Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, in Iowa. Mr. Huckabee finished third in Michigan.
Mr. Romney’s victory here means three different Republican candidates have won each of the first three major contests. The race moves to South Carolina and Nevada this weekend with no clear front-runner and two credible candidates, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York and former Senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee, yet to seriously contest a state.
Recognizing the importance of winning here, Mr. Romney devoted considerably more time and money to Michigan than either of his chief rivals. He ran a much larger and more disciplined campaign and vastly outspent them on television, radio, direct mail and telephone appeals.
The economy and the troubles of the auto industry dominated the contest here from start to finish, with Mr. Romney seizing on Mr. McCain’s suggestions that the jobs lost “are not coming back.” Mr. Romney also capitalized on his business background and his father’s leadership in the auto industry to persuade voters that he was best equipped to deal with those problems.
Exit polls showed that 55 percent of voters cited the economy as their biggest concern, and 40 percent cast their ballots for Mr. Romney.
A senior McCain adviser here said the Michigan result meant that Mr. McCain had to win in South Carolina to reassert his field-leading status. If he does not, this adviser said, it makes it more likely that even after Republicans in 21 states go to polls and caucuses on Feb. 5 there may be no decided leader.
By an overwhelming margin, the economy was the top concern of Michigan voters, dwarfing Iraq, immigration and terrorism. In Iowa, by contrast, only 26 percent of Republican caucusgoers cited the economy as the most important issue, behind immigration. In New Hampshire, the economy was cited as the top concern by 31 percent of Republican primary voters, followed closely by Iraq, at 24 percent and immigration, at 23 percent.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, the only major candidate whose name was on the ballot in Michigan, was the winner on the Democratic side. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina withdrew their names at the request of the national Democratic Party, which penalized Michigan with the loss of its delegates because the early date of its primary violated party rules.
But state party leaders said they believed the Michigan delegates would be seated.
The race in Michigan forced the Republican candidates to focus chiefly on the dismal economy of the state, where thousands of manufacturing jobs have evaporated in the last several years and where the unemployment rate, 7.4 percent, is the highest in the nation.
Mr. McCain may have hurt himself here when he declared last week in a debate in South Carolina that because of the restructuring of the global automobile industry many of those jobs would never be restored in Michigan.
Mr. Romney, whose father was the chief executive of American Motors in the 1950s and early 1960s, pounced on Mr. McCain at stop after stop in Michigan since last Friday.
“There are some people in Washington who look at Michigan and say, ‘It’s really sad. I’m aware of what’s going on there, but those jobs are lost forever,’ ” Mr. Romney said at a stop in Taylor, Mich., on Sunday evening. “That’s unacceptable to me. I am not going to rest until Michigan is back.”
Mr. Romney campaigned with his wife, Ann, and his eldest son, Tagg, and never failed to remind audiences of his Michigan roots. He was born here and attended high school here, his father served three terms as governor, and his parents are buried here.
“This is personal for me,” he said.
Mr. McCain played up his maverick role and reminded audiences that he had won the 2000 Republican primary against the well-financed political machine of George W. Bush.
Mr. Huckabee exerted modest efforts here, spending far less time than his competitors and appearing mostly in the western part of the state, home to a large number of evangelical Christians who have been a bulwark of his candidacy.
But he, too, expressed sympathy for the plight of autoworkers. In an appearance Monday at a metals plant in Lansing, he said his plan to replace most federal taxes with a single national sales tax would ease their financial burdens and lead to a revitalization of industry.
The unusually early Michigan primary coincided this year with the North American International Auto Show, and the candidates were competing for attention in this auto-centered state with the introductions of new cars and news media briefings by top industry executives.
The day before the primary, the front page of The Detroit News featured a large picture of a cattle drive through the streets of downtown Detroit sponsored by Chrysler to introduce its new line of full-sized pickup trucks. The day’s political news was relegated to one column on the left side of the page.
The three Republican candidates focused much of their attention on the plight of the auto industry. Mr. McCain said he would not sugar-coat the problem or make promises he could not redeem, but called for increased government support for research on advanced vehicles and fuels. He accused Mr. Romney of pandering to depressed autoworkers and homeowners.
Mr. Romney accused Mr. McCain of defeatism and noted that he supported the new mileage standard signed into law in December that will require all cars and trucks sold in the United States to improve fuel efficiency by 40 percent by 2020. Mr. Romney described that bill as an “anvil” around the neck of a drowning industry.
He also reminded audiences that Mr. McCain supported a mandatory cap and trade system for carbon dioxide emissions, which are believed to be responsible for global warming. Mr. Romney said the climate change legislation Mr. McCain supports would cost further jobs in the manufacturing sector.
While Republicans responded favorably to Mr. Romney’s attacks, those environmental measures are popular with Democrats and independents, who provided as much as 40 percent of Mr. McCain’s support in 2000 and who he had hoped would put him over the top this year.
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Promising to revitalize the distressed automobile industry, Mr. Romney defeated his principal rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, by winning a clear plurality of Republicans and conservatives, who turned out in greater numbers than they had in the 2000 primary, which Mr. McCain won.
“Tonight marks the beginning of a comeback,” Mr. Romney said in declaring victory at a hotel rally in Southfield. “Tonight is a victory of optimism over Washington-style pessimism.”
Mr. Romney needed a victory in Michigan to save his candidacy after finishing second to Mr. McCain in New Hampshire and to Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, in Iowa. Mr. Huckabee finished third in Michigan.
Mr. Romney’s victory here means three different Republican candidates have won each of the first three major contests. The race moves to South Carolina and Nevada this weekend with no clear front-runner and two credible candidates, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York and former Senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee, yet to seriously contest a state.
Recognizing the importance of winning here, Mr. Romney devoted considerably more time and money to Michigan than either of his chief rivals. He ran a much larger and more disciplined campaign and vastly outspent them on television, radio, direct mail and telephone appeals.
The economy and the troubles of the auto industry dominated the contest here from start to finish, with Mr. Romney seizing on Mr. McCain’s suggestions that the jobs lost “are not coming back.” Mr. Romney also capitalized on his business background and his father’s leadership in the auto industry to persuade voters that he was best equipped to deal with those problems.
Exit polls showed that 55 percent of voters cited the economy as their biggest concern, and 40 percent cast their ballots for Mr. Romney.
A senior McCain adviser here said the Michigan result meant that Mr. McCain had to win in South Carolina to reassert his field-leading status. If he does not, this adviser said, it makes it more likely that even after Republicans in 21 states go to polls and caucuses on Feb. 5 there may be no decided leader.
By an overwhelming margin, the economy was the top concern of Michigan voters, dwarfing Iraq, immigration and terrorism. In Iowa, by contrast, only 26 percent of Republican caucusgoers cited the economy as the most important issue, behind immigration. In New Hampshire, the economy was cited as the top concern by 31 percent of Republican primary voters, followed closely by Iraq, at 24 percent and immigration, at 23 percent.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, the only major candidate whose name was on the ballot in Michigan, was the winner on the Democratic side. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina withdrew their names at the request of the national Democratic Party, which penalized Michigan with the loss of its delegates because the early date of its primary violated party rules.
But state party leaders said they believed the Michigan delegates would be seated.
The race in Michigan forced the Republican candidates to focus chiefly on the dismal economy of the state, where thousands of manufacturing jobs have evaporated in the last several years and where the unemployment rate, 7.4 percent, is the highest in the nation.
Mr. McCain may have hurt himself here when he declared last week in a debate in South Carolina that because of the restructuring of the global automobile industry many of those jobs would never be restored in Michigan.
Mr. Romney, whose father was the chief executive of American Motors in the 1950s and early 1960s, pounced on Mr. McCain at stop after stop in Michigan since last Friday.
“There are some people in Washington who look at Michigan and say, ‘It’s really sad. I’m aware of what’s going on there, but those jobs are lost forever,’ ” Mr. Romney said at a stop in Taylor, Mich., on Sunday evening. “That’s unacceptable to me. I am not going to rest until Michigan is back.”
Mr. Romney campaigned with his wife, Ann, and his eldest son, Tagg, and never failed to remind audiences of his Michigan roots. He was born here and attended high school here, his father served three terms as governor, and his parents are buried here.
“This is personal for me,” he said.
Mr. McCain played up his maverick role and reminded audiences that he had won the 2000 Republican primary against the well-financed political machine of George W. Bush.
Mr. Huckabee exerted modest efforts here, spending far less time than his competitors and appearing mostly in the western part of the state, home to a large number of evangelical Christians who have been a bulwark of his candidacy.
But he, too, expressed sympathy for the plight of autoworkers. In an appearance Monday at a metals plant in Lansing, he said his plan to replace most federal taxes with a single national sales tax would ease their financial burdens and lead to a revitalization of industry.
The unusually early Michigan primary coincided this year with the North American International Auto Show, and the candidates were competing for attention in this auto-centered state with the introductions of new cars and news media briefings by top industry executives.
The day before the primary, the front page of The Detroit News featured a large picture of a cattle drive through the streets of downtown Detroit sponsored by Chrysler to introduce its new line of full-sized pickup trucks. The day’s political news was relegated to one column on the left side of the page.
The three Republican candidates focused much of their attention on the plight of the auto industry. Mr. McCain said he would not sugar-coat the problem or make promises he could not redeem, but called for increased government support for research on advanced vehicles and fuels. He accused Mr. Romney of pandering to depressed autoworkers and homeowners.
Mr. Romney accused Mr. McCain of defeatism and noted that he supported the new mileage standard signed into law in December that will require all cars and trucks sold in the United States to improve fuel efficiency by 40 percent by 2020. Mr. Romney described that bill as an “anvil” around the neck of a drowning industry.
He also reminded audiences that Mr. McCain supported a mandatory cap and trade system for carbon dioxide emissions, which are believed to be responsible for global warming. Mr. Romney said the climate change legislation Mr. McCain supports would cost further jobs in the manufacturing sector.
While Republicans responded favorably to Mr. Romney’s attacks, those environmental measures are popular with Democrats and independents, who provided as much as 40 percent of Mr. McCain’s support in 2000 and who he had hoped would put him over the top this year.
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