Santorum may pick up votes in the Massachusetts Republican primary on Tuesday partly based on his strong stand against abortion.
Associated PressRepublican presidential candidates, from left, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich stand together before the start of a Republican presidential debate in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
BOSTON – Saying they want dramatic change in Washington, many people in Massachusetts are getting behind a Republican presidential hopeful other than W. Mitt Romney, the state’s former one-term governor, in Tuesday’s primary.
While former Gov. Romney is expected to coast to victory in the state’s GOP presidential primary, each of his remaining three rivals – former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas – enjoys a base of support in Massachusetts.
Santorum may emerge with at least the minimum 15 percent of the vote needed to win some delegates from Massachusetts, according to a poll.
Ann M. Demos of West Springfield, a teaching director for Community Bible Study, an interdenominational Christian organization, said she will be voting for Santorum, citing his firm opposition to abortion.
Ann Demos of West Springfield plans to vote for Rick Santorum on Tuesday, largely because of his strong "pro life" stance.
Demos, who is married with five children, said she likes and respects Santorum as a person and family man. Santorum supports a constitutional ban on abortion and opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest.
“Most important, I love his Christian morals and his respect for life,” said Demos. “He believes it and he lives it.”
Another local supporter of Santorum, Mark Manolakis, 19, of Wilbraham, said the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania and father of seven holds some fundamental conservative values. Manolakis said he likes the experience of Santorum, who served two terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the Senate before losing his attempt at re-election in 2006.
Manolakis, a freshman at Western New England University in Springfield, said he also agrees with Santorum’s “pro life” position and his plans for the economy.
“He can excite voters a lot more than Mitt can in the general election,” he said.
Paul also has some backers in Western Massachusetts. People said they are attracted to Paul because he wants to bring home troops from foreign nations and because of his stands in favor of limited government, low taxes and free markets.
Christina Moroney, 19, a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said she worked for Paul for 10 days in Maine before that state’s primary and also started a student group for the candidate at the university. Paul won about 35 percent of the vote in the Maine caucuses, finishing second to Romney, who received 39 percent.
Christina Moroney, a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is supporting Ron Paul in Tuesday's primary.
Moroney, a registered Republican, said she is concerned about the lengthy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their tremendous human and financial costs. She said she likes Paul partly because he wants to stop spending billions of dollars on undeclared wars.
David P. Kopacz Sr., an environmental consultant from Ware, said he believes that Paul will cut government regulations that are hurting business. “We’ve got to get back to free enterprise,” said Kopacz, who is running for a seat on the Republican State Committee.
Joseph Ureneck, 60, a Chinese language interpreter from Boston, is a supporter of Paul who started “a meetup” group on the Internet.
Ureneck, a member of the Republican State Committee, said Paul wants to downsize government, reduce waste and get government out of people’s personal lives.
Gingrich, who served as speaker from 1995 to 1999, worked with President Bill Clinton to overhaul welfare and balance the federal budget.
Joseph R. Granger, of Ludlow, a retired Army major and software engineer, said he will vote for Gingrich on Tuesday.
“He is a masterful strategist and a capable tactician,” Granger said. “He proved that back in the 1990s.”
Among the candidates, he said, Gingrich represents the best chance for the opportunity to transform government.
Republican activist David Kopacz of Ware supports Ron Paul because of his emphasis on boosting the free market.
Granger said the federal bureaucracy holds too much control over people’s lives. He said Gingrich might return some powers to communities and the state.
Gingrich, for example, is pledging to reform the federal Department of Homeland Security, created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Granger said the nation needs to keep its guard up and seek out terrorists, but the homeland agency is too oppressive. “I’m absolutely aghast the United States has an agency like that,” Granger said.
Robert R. Eno, 38, of Shrewsbury, who is publisher of www.redmassgroup.com, said he has been a fan of Gingrich since he was in high school.
“He is a leader with vision and big ideas,” Eno said. “We need big ideas to fix what is wrong with the country.”
Eno said he cannot back Romney in a primary because of the former governor’s passage of the 2006 health care law, which mandates that most adults obtain health insurance or face a possible tax penalty.
“I cannot vote in a Republican primary for someone who is forcing me to buy a private product against my will,” Eno said.
Alex Sherman, left, the chairman of the Republican City Committee in Springfield, and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, right, are among the state's Republicans backing Mitt Romney in Tuesday's primary.
In the primary, a candidate needs at least 15 percent of the vote to win at least some delegates from Massachusetts for the party’s national nominating convention, scheduled to be held Aug. 27-30 in Tampa.
In 2008, leading Republicans in Massachusetts were divided over the party' presidential candidates.
This year, Romney is being backed by virtually all of the state’s Republicans in the state Legislature including Reps. Todd M. Smola of Palmer, Donald F. Humason of Westfield and Nicholas Boldyga of Southwick and Sen. Michael R. Knapik of Westfield. U.S. Sen. Scott P. Brown, a Republican, is also backing Romney.
“Mitt Romney is, in my belief, the one candidate with the best shot for winning in November,” added Alex Sherman, chairman of the Republican City Committee in Springfield, who is supporting Romney. “I like his economic policies as well and especially his tough stances on China which is something we've been lacking from our commander in chief for quite some time.”
In the 2008 Republican primary in Massachusetts, Romney won 51 percent of the vote to defeat U.S. Sen. John S. McCain of Arizona, who received 41 percent. Paul won 3 percent.
This year, Santorum may be the only other Republican candidate to capture at least 15 percent of the vote, according to a recent poll by Suffolk University in Boston and WHDH-TV Channel 7 in Boston.
The poll of 172 likely Republican voters in Massachusetts, taken between Feb. 11-15, showed Romney with 64 percent; Santorum, 16 percent; Paul, 7 percent; Gingrich, 6 percent; and undecided, 6 percent.
Three other Republicans who have dropped out of the primary – Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann – also appear on the ballot. President Barack Obama is the only candidate on the Democratic primary ballot. The Green-Rainbow candidates, in order of appearance on the ballot, are Kent Mesplay, Jill Stein and Harley Mikkelson.