Romney to meet with congressional supporters

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), coming off a disappointing Super Tuesday, will meet with his congressional supporters Thursday afternoon, sources told The Hill.

Romney will meet with the members who endorsed his run at the Capitol Hill Club, shortly after addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference’s (CPAC) annual convention.

{mosads}As results were still being tabulated Tuesday night, speculation grew that Romney might be on his way out of the nomination battle after Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) built on his front-runner status and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee showed surprising strength in a number of Southern states.

Romney told assembled supporters Tuesday night that he planned to continue his run all the way to the convention, but rumors soon surfaced that the former governor was set to meet with his senior staff to discuss the future of the campaign.

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden neither confirmed nor denied Thursday’s Capitol Hill meeting, saying only that “any meetings scheduled in D.C. are part of our regular outreach with supporters.”

McCain extended his delegate lead over Romney substantially Tuesday night, winning 511 delegates to Romney’s 176, according to The Washington Post.

Overall, McCain has 613 delegates to Romney’s 269. To win the GOP nomination, a candidate needs 1,191 delegates.