The Republican Party will hold its primary election in Ohio on Tuesday, March 6.

As part of “Super Tuesday,” seven states will hold primaries and three will hold caucuses. Mitt Romney, behind wins in New Hampshire, Florida and Nevada, is currently the leader in the polls with 91 delegates. Rick Santorum follows with 44 delegates, Newt Gingrich is third with 29 and Ron Paul is in last with 8 delegates.

While Romney is leading in the polls, Republicans have some differences in their personal favorite candidates but will support the party’s nominee even if he isn’t their personal favorite.

“My personal favorite is Newt Gingrich. I am definitely a Newt supporter, and I like Rick Santorum too,” said Nick Howley, a senior information systems major and vice-president of the College Republicans. “I’d vote for party unity. I think that most people in the party will agree that, despite all the stuff that goes on between now and after the convention is over and we’ve got our official nominee, everyone is going to support that nominee so we can get Barack Obama out.”

“I like Newt because I think that he’d do well in the debates,” said Zach Basel, a sophomore political science major and public relations chair for the College Republicans. “Regardless of who wins the nomination, you have to be behind them because the ultimate goal in this election is to beat Barack Obama.”

“Personally I support Governor Mitt Romney, but whoever the nominee is I think we have a very strong chance in November,” said Tyler Anderson, a junior political science major and president of the College Republicans.

In Ohio, like many other states around the nation, the economy is one of the biggest issues the voters are concerned about.

“On the minds of voters the most important issue is the economy and jobs, I think our candidates have very good economic plans and good vision to get the economy moving again,” said Anderson. “For example, Rick Santorum has a plan to zero out the income tax for manufacturers, and in states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania manufacturing is a huge issue, and I think that’s going to be very appealing.”

“I would say it’s between two issues, the economy and national debt. They’re kind of tied together; you have to get rid of the national debt to fix the economy,” Howley said.

“I think people are afraid, worried about the future. I think people want to make sure America keeps its place in the world economically and from a national security standpoint. People want to get the economy moving again and if we don’t cut back on spending, our entire economic survival is going to be in jeopardy and people’s children and grandchildren are going to have a lower standard of living,” said Anderson.

While it is already too late to register to vote in the primary, there is still time to register for the November elections. For information about registering to vote in Ohio, visit the Board of Elections website at www.co.stark.oh.us/internet/HOME.DisplayPage?v_page=boe_voterRegistration.