The race for the Republican presidential nomination is about to take a big step forward, with 10 states weighing in Tuesday on the biggest day of voting yet in the two-month-old campaign.

With several key contests set for so-called "Super Tuesday" -- from the swing state of Ohio to the delegate-rich Georgia -- the four remaining candidates have pursued varying strategies for capitalizing on the day's voting and gaining momentum.

Mitt Romney remains the front-runner and could use a dominant showing Tuesday to all but eliminate doubt about his inevitability. But Rick Santorum continues to present a strong challenge, and polls have remained close in Ohio, a Midwestern industrial state where voters have an uncanny history of picking winners in presidential politics...

After a good February for each of them, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum head into Super Tuesday essentially tied in The Washington Times/JZ Analytics’ poll of Republican primary voters nationwide, which also found little appetite for the GOP to wait until a convention to settle matters.

Only slightly more than a quarter of voters said they want to see a brokered convention, while nearly twice that many said they are satisfied with the choices presented to them this year.

There is no magic bullet candidate that could change the face of the race: Even given new choices such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a plurality of voters still sticks with Mr. Romney...

For the first time in decades, Republican caucus-goers in Washington state may have a real say in who runs for president.

"We have always been the ugly sister who never gets invited to the dance," Washington state Republican Party Chairman Kirby Wilbur said. "But this year we're the princess, and we really like it."

All of the remaining four GOP presidential candidates have campaigned in the Evergreen State hoping to get the lion's share of the 43 delegates at stake.

But perhaps the most important impact of this Saturday's straw poll will be the potential bump gained by the winner heading into Super Tuesday when 10 states vote and 419 delegates are up for grabs.

Preferring to compete in caucus states rather than states that hold large primaries, Ron Paul is believed to have the best organization in Washington state...