Tuesday’s win takes him closer to the party’s nomination to run against President Obama.

Mitt Romney on Tuesday March 20, 2012 won the Republican primary in Illinois, his latest win on the road to decide who will contest November's poll against Barack Obama. The BBC reported that Romney won 47 per cent of the votes, compared to 35 per cent for Rick Santorum, his nearest rival.

Ron Paul polled 9 per cent and Newt Gingrich got 8 per cent; though neither candidate campaigned extensively in the state. Speaking at a victory party, the former Massachusetts Governor said he was running for president because he believes he has the experience and vision to get the country out of what he described as “this mess.” Illinois was the 28^th state to hold a primary or caucus in the selection of delegates to the nominating convention, about halfway through the calendar of the Republican campaign.

According to the Voice of America, VOA, the win in Illinois has given another boost to Romney’s campaign that has so far failed to win support from religious conservatives who have strongly supported Santorum during the nominating contest. Romney's well-funded and better organized campaign also gave him an advantage over Santorum. Romney won a convincing victory in Puerto Rico's primary over the weekend, amassing 83 per cent of the votes, but lost to Santorum in recent contests in the South.

According to an Associated Press tally after the Puerto Rico result, Romney has 521 delegates, Santorum 253, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 136 and Ron Paul 50. Romney's victory in Illinois means the gruelling Republican marathon goes on, with the candidates straining on towards a finishing line that seems to recede further into the distance with every passing week. But commentators think that in the end, Romney is going to win as he is nearly unbeatable. A candidate needs to accumulate 1,144 delegates to the August convention in order to secure the nomination.

The race now moves to the southern State of Louisiana on Saturday. Santorum is expected to win handily, given the state's large numbers of religious conservatives, who like him, are against gay marriage and abortion. The next round of primaries holds in early April with contests in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington DC.