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Mitt Romney is expected to have a good night in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia. But how will the race shape up Tuesday, and what lies ahead for Mr. Romney and Rick Santorum?

At NPR, Frank James says the electoral terrains starts to look better for Mr. Romney.

Impressive wins Tuesday could help Romney further the growing sense in his party that resistance to him is futile, that he will be the nominee. It would also make his rivals’ arguments for staying in the race, especially those of Rick Santorum, the last not-Romney to pose a threat, sound ever more forced and divorced from political reality…

If the pattern from other Midwestern states holds, Romney should do well in Wisconsin’s urban-suburban districts where most of the voters live while Santorum should dominate in more rural districts with fewer voters.

That means in Wisconsin Romney should do best in Milwaukee and its suburbs in southeastern Wisconsin and Green Bay to the north. He and his superPAC allies have heavily advertised in those two media markets, the state’s largest, to improve their chances of winning big there. Santorum has campaigned in those places but has also gone to central Wisconsin and further west, too.

At the Hill, Cameron James explains how Mr. Santorum will likely keep giving Mr. Romney fits even if the former Massachusetts governor wins primaries in Wisconsin, Maryland and D.C.

But Santorum has made it clear he’ll continue on through the April 24 primaries, which include his home state of Pennsylvania as well as a number of states friendly to Romney: Connecticut, New York, Delaware and Rhode Island.

GOP strategists say it’s unlikely Santorum could be swayed by any Romney endorsements, and that unless Romney beats him in both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania the race could continue on through the end of May. Romney has fallen behind Obama in the polls, a sign the long and nasty primary is hurting his campaign…

If Santorum can hold on in Pennsylvania, the next few primaries could give him a much-needed boost, forcing Romney to keep spending money and time to defeat him rather than turning his attention toward President Obama…

The former Pennsylvania senator has been successful despite having almost no support within the Republican establishment or any well-known endorsers. This means that there are few power brokers who might be able to sway him to drop out — and the big-name religious conservatives who endorsed him after a January conference in Texas have shown no interest in playing that role.

Paul Steinhauser, CNN’s political editor, writes about why the primary in Wisconsin “looms larger” for Mr. Santorum.

The Badger State may be the final chance for the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania to convince Republicans that the race for the GOP nomination isn’t over…

A Santorum win in Wisconsin on Tuesday could revive the headlines that Romney is having trouble locking up the nomination. But a Santorum loss will most likely increase the chorus of voices for him to drop out.

“If Romney clean-sweeps Tuesday night, it’s very hard to see a path for Santorum,” CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley said.



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