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Santorum Rally in Front of GOP HQ Fizzles

A rally was scheduled for Monday night to protest the Michigan Republican Party’s decision to award both of the state’s at-large national convention delegates to Mitt Romney.

Supporters of Rick Santorum say he was denied his fair share of the delegates because he won almost half the statewide vote.    

But only a handful of people showed up at the state Republican headquarters in Lansing, and they were quickly invited inside for a closed-door meeting with party officials.

Matt Frendeway is a spokesman for the state Republican party. “Republicans, from time to time we have disputes, we have disagreements, but we settle it within the family," Frendeway says. "We’re focused on November. We’re focused on defeating President Obama. And we’re going to sit down and talk about any differences we have and we’re going to settle them because, most importantly, we’re going to focus on November.”

A Facebook posting by a rally organizer says the effort is focused instead on recruiting people to run as delegates to the Michigan Republicans’ statewide convention in May that will decide who goes to the Republican  national convention.

State Republican Chairman Bobby Schostak has sent a letter to party activists apologizing for the confusion over how the delegates were allocated.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.
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