Romney Cruises, Obama Stumbles In Presidential Primary

As expected, GOP frontrunner cruised to an easy victory in the Arkansas Republican primary, while Pres. Obama had a poor showing against an unknown candidate, John Wolfe.

Romney earned nearly 69% of the primary vote even though challengers Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich were still on the ballot. Romney will pick up 36 Arkansas delegates with the victory.

In the Democratic Presidential primary, Obama defeated Tennessee attorney John Wolfe.

Wolfe, largely unknown in Arkansas, received many votes in protest to the President. Last week, a Talk Business-Hendrix College poll<

/span> of Fourth District Democratic voters suggested Wolfe could have a strong showing against the incumbent President.

Unofficially, Wolfe carried at least 36 of Arkansas' 75 counties, while Obama received a majority of votes of the balance.

Obama finished with more than 58% of the Democratic primary votes compared to Wolfe's 42%.

Last week, Democratic Party of Arkansas officials told Wolfe that he would not receive any of Arkansas' delegates due to lack of sufficient paperwork, even if he earned more than 15% of the primary vote — the threshold to receive delegates.

Obama, who has polled and performed poorly in Arkansas annually, will receive Arkansas' 55 delegates at the party convention later this year.