Strong support from Southwest Missouri could give Gov. Mitt Romney a victory in the Republican presidential primary in February 2008.
That was the assertion of State Rep. Rod Jetton, speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, at a Joplin lunch held to recruit local volunteers to work on behalf of the former Massachusetts governor.
Jetton said he and Sen. Gary Nodler met Romney at the same time after they were introduced by Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, who is serving as treasurer for Romney’s campaign in Missouri. Nodler, who is Seventh District coordinator for the campaign, also was at the luncheon, along with State Rep. Bryan Stevenson, who will serve as Romney’s Jasper County coordinator.
“Jasper and Newton counties produce big margins for Republican candidates. Support here would help him take the state, and it’s winner-take-all,” Jetton said.
Jetton was spending the day making stops in Missouri with P.J. Wenzel, a regional director for the Romney campaign.
Wenzel said Romney is leading in the many of the early primary states, but said Midwestern states including Missouri “will be the battleground.”
