The majority of the Republican candidates are focused on the Nevada Republican caucuses Saturday, but Texas congressman Ron Paul’s campaign is also looking for a win in the Maine Republican caucuses.
The Maine Republican caucuses start Saturday February 4th, and last until February 11th. It is one of the only states where voting will occur over a seven day time period, and Mr. Paul is the only candidate to have conducted recent on the ground campaigning in Maine.
There are a total of 24 delegate votes up for grabs in Maine, however, the Maine Republican Party does not distribute their delegate votes until their annual convention in May.
Mr. Paul’s campaign is focusing on courting voters in states where delegate votes are distributed proportionally, so that he can make a case for the nomination at the Republican National Convention in August. Candidates need 1,144 delegate votes to win the nomination, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leads the race thus far with 74 votes.
Last weekend Mr. Paul made six campaign appearances during a two day campaign swing in Maine, and saw good sized crowds, as his rival candidates were focusing on Florida. The Texas congressman said the interest of Maine voters in his campaign was “phenomenal,” in an appearance on CNN last Sunday. He believes that Mr. Romney is the most popular candidate in Maine, but that he might be able to pull off an upset victory there.
“I’d even give him a chance of winning (the Maine caucus) if he can get his supporters organized,” said Jim Melcher, an associate professor of political science at the University of Maine at Farmington in an email to the Lewiston Sun Journal last week. “Being the only major candidate to campaign here recently won’t hurt, either.”
As of Friday, the RealClearPolitics.com poll average showed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich holding a slight lead over Mr. Romney in Maine.
It is unclear how much impact the results of the Maine Republican caucuses will have on the race going forward though, considering that CNN reported just 5,500 voters attended Republican caucuses in Maine for the 2008 presidential election.
“The caucuses here are kind of a hard sell,” said Michael Quatrano, executive director of the state GOP, United Press International reports. “We’re a very liberal state.”
Maine is similar to New Hampshire, as Mr. Romney enjoys regional popularity there. The large presence of independent voters in Main though could prove to be an advantage for Mr. Paul. The Texas congressman did very well with independent voters in the New Hampshire Republican primary election, where he came in second place.
