By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

Illinois Republicans gave Arizona Sen. John McCain one of many Super Tuesday victories Feb. 5 that added momentum to his race for the White House. McCain grabbed 47 percent of the vote here.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney drew 29 percent of the Illinois vote, while Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee followed with 17 percent.

McCain also won GOP primaries in California, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Missouri, Montana and Arizona, just months after political pundits, citing his financial troubles, declared his campaign dead in the water. In recent weeks, the senator’s conservative credentials have come under fire from hardcore right-wingers, many of whom suggested they would rather vote for Hillary Clinton.

But Tuesday night McCain confidently declared, “We have to get used to the idea that we are the Republican Party frontrunners.”

McCain’s opponents lagged far behind Tuesday night. Romney earned primary victories in seven states—Massachusetts, Utah, Michigan, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. The former governor has had a difficult time reconciling his past political statements with viewpoints that appeal to GOP voters. Currently a devout opponent of gay marriage, for example, Romney had to explain why, in 1994, he promised Log Cabin Republicans that he’d be more liberal on gay issues than Ted Kennedy.

Huckabee trailed with victories in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia. The Baptist minister’s socially conservative viewpoints have appealed to many voters in the South. Last year he refused to take back statements he’d made in the early 1990s that said persons with HIV/AIDS should be quarantined.