And just like that Santorum sucks any fun out of CT’s GOP primary

Rick Santorum had written off the blue Northeast in his continued losing battle with ex-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for the GOP presidential nomination.

But the fact he was still in the race and generating national headlines at least made our April 24 primary a bit more interesting and helped convince Romney to make a brief campaign stop tomorrow in Hartford.

Of course Connecticut’s string of bad luck when it comes to primaries – namely rarely being relevant – continued today with Santorum’s decision to suspend his campaign. (Although he’ll remain on the April 24th ballot, according to the Secretary of the State.)

Although I guess now the CT press can try to ask Romney what he’ll do for an official Santorum endorsement, since the New York Times is reporting the two agreed to meet in the near future.

UPDATE: I really like state GOP Chairman Jerry Labriola’s response to the Santorum news.

Asked if he was bummed about Santorum’s decision coming so soon before his members head to the polls, Labriola didn’t miss a beat turning those lemons into a refreshing beverage.

“Not at all,” he said. “We’re excited with the nominating process now drawing to a conclusion. We’re excited that Governor Romney’s going to kick off the general election campaign in Hartford, Connecticut. It also I believe elevates the significance of having the next First Lady of the U.S. – Ann Romney – as our keynote speaker on April 23 in Stamford. So on both fronts we’re very excited.”

Brian Lockhart